I started gold refining as a new hobby back in January. Wow did I have a lot to learn! It’s sure not as easy as many YouTuber’s indicate. I’d hazard a guess that it takes years to become proficient at recovery and refining. I’ve always been into rocks; gem hunting, gold panning, meteorites, etc. I approached this hobby with three main sources of material; (1) computer/electronic scrap, (2) old gold plated or filled jewelry and (3) local panning, mining or buying raw material. In sum, after a steep learning curve and a lot of failures I have actually recovered a few grams of gold (some from my initial wastes). I’ve got a few things cooking right now that should be fun. And, today I picked up a few grams of raw NC gold that I hope to convert to a small high grade button. Take care and enjoy your work or hobby.