Cell phone extraction

[Johnny Williams]

I extracted about 35-40 cell phones. First I used nitric acid to extract 450gr of cell phones to recover silver. After filtering , the boards was covered with AR and allowed to stand for several days the result was dark tan solution, then filtered. I tested each sloution, the first solution did not show any gold was present and second sol ( dark tan sol ) didnt show any gold either . Yes the stannous was fresh, in fact ,tests on AA or ICP gold sol was positve when tested. Looked in forum to see if I could find answer, lots of reading no answer yet. Help newbe

 

[martyn111]

What pre processing steps did you take before starting your extraction ?
Were all the base metals dissolved in the first nitric bath?
Have you tested this first solution for silver in solution?
Without knowing the full story we will only be guessing as to what has happened to your PM's

My guess is that the tan colour in your second solution could be Iron oxide, if that is the case you will probably find your gold in the bottom of your vessel in the form of fine black powder, cemented out on any base metals present.

 

[Johnny Williams]

No ,pre processing ,treated with acid (HNO3 conc) followe by filtering,treat again this time with AR. Test , no gold . Not sure if all base metals removed in first extraction . Test for silver , please suggest . I was trying to keep simple, story is being writen as we go. No black powder noted. Have saved every thying.

 

[martyn111]

test for silver, add small amount of Hcl or table salt, if a white precipitate appears in the solution it is probably silver chloride.
Have you read Hoke's?

 

[butcher]

Aqua regia will not dissolve very much silver, silver chloride is insoluble in this acid, a tiny bit of silver will go into solution in the very strong acid.

Did you eliminate the nitric acid before testing with stannous chloride? If you did not it may not work, (gold re-dissolves) do you know for sure your stannous is good? (a Known gold solution can be used to test your stannous chloride).

What color is you solution? Is it loaded with base metals? Is it clear yellow , or green or black? How does it filter? These conditions can be clues to if your gold is dissolved or in colloidal form, due to tin or high base metal content in solution,
Stannous will not test for colloidal gold, although there is usually enough dissolved gold even in these conditions to test positive, as stannous chloride is a very sensitive test and can test for very minute amounts of gold in solution.

 

[Johnny Williams]

Silver test ,in which HCL was added to a sample (of first sol) tested positive, thank you ! Silver droped almost right away. Solution #2 AR extraction, a small sample was heated to drive off the HNO3( took down in vol up with small amount of h2o).Sol tested for gold , bingo test showed gold present. The color of second sol ,
(someone who's not color blind) dark green. Still trying to find copy of Hoke.
Does color mean AR sol loaded with base metals and is there way to get them out?

 

[martyn111]

Hokes book
http://tinyurl.com/mfnyhs

 

[arthur kierski]

35 to 40 cell fone with a good strategy yealds 1 gram of gold +or- 0,4grams------0,3to 0,4 of pd and 10grams of ag(i never got more then 4grams)-----the way you described what you did,i doubt that you will get 10% of what i mentioned
i studied and exchanged experience with many members of this forum,read many books(hoke,ammen,kadja-----inorganic qualitative analysis)and yet i am not fully sure of the processes i use----i am doingn these extractions for more then 4years---- i will not disclose what i do---- i only am writing this thread to tell you ,without arrogance,and wishing sucess ,that you are in the wrong track,and should change your strategy----- i do around 300kilos of cellphone boards monthly----about 11000 cellphones-------
regards
Arthur

 

[Johnny Williams]

Martyl111 ,thanks for the link to Hokes book.
Bucher, the color is a dark green, does this indicate base metals present.
Arhur , not sure what you are saying . I 'm basicly on a exploratory to find what can be obtained from computer parts and cell phones and how to extract it properly.
I dont need useless post that increase the the writers post number and realy say little. I am a newbe not stupid.
Back to the problem, cell phone extraction, sol #1 HNO3 is where my Ag is ok. Sol #2 problem , I used AR , color dark green. Have I lost my gold?

 

[jimdoc]

Arhur , not sure what you are saying . I 'm basicly on a exploratory to find what can be obtained from computer parts and cell phones and how to extract it properly.
I dont need useless post that increase the the writers post number and realy say little. I am a newbe not stupid.

I think you should not dismiss Arthur's advice as useless. You should be learning from every possible angle. Members with an entitlement issue or attitude problem often miss out on advice that they would otherwise receive.

Jim

 

[Geo]

. Back to the problem, cell phone extraction, sol #1 HNO3 is where my Ag is ok. Sol #2 problem , I used AR , color dark green. Have I lost my gold?

if there is the least bit of base metal left after the reaction, then your gold plated back out of the solution. if you still have the trash left over after the reaction, decant the solution down to the solids and add a couple hundred mls of hcl and then add a few mls of bleach and then test with stannous.

 

[arthur kierski]

Johnny,you are stupid----anyway,good luck
Arthur

 

[Photobacterium]

35 to 40 cell fone with a good strategy yealds 1 gram of gold +or- 0,4grams------0,3to 0,4 of pd and 10grams of ag(i never got more then 4grams)-----the way you described what you did,i doubt that you will get 10% of what i mentioned
i studied and exchanged experience with many members of this forum,read many books(hoke,ammen,kadja-----inorganic qualitative analysis)and yet i am not fully sure of the processes i use----i am doingn these extractions for more then 4years---- i will not disclose what i do---- i only am writing this thread to tell you ,without arrogance,and wishing sucess ,that you are in the wrong track,and should change your strategy----- i do around 300kilos of cellphone boards monthly----about 11000 cellphones-------
regards
Arthur

thank you for sharing your yield results !

 

[arthur kierski]

Photobacterium,the yealds that i wrote in the thread are derived from my experiments--they are true numbers that may vary with the types of cellfones----there might be a big variation in the silver,because only recently i discovered that exists silver in the screens,together with indium------
regards
Arthur

 

[butcher]

Johnny Williams,
arthur kierski, has worked hard to gain his knowledge in this field, and if he say's something I personally believe it has much merit, and you should have also listen, he was trying to help you, from what he has learned by much trial and error and hard work, you insulted Aurtur with your comment that you did not need useless information, it also insulted me, as I see where nobody who answered your question gave you nothing but good advice, yes you are new, and nobody thinks you are stupid, but that was a stupid thing to say, to people who spend their time trying to help others, when someone try's to show you the way to get your gold do not spit in their face, say thankyou.

Arthur was trying to help show you the way to find your gold (you are new and lost).

I feel you owe an apology to our good friend Arthur, put up chemistry and read Hokes.

just thought I would give you my two cents.

 

[jeneje]

Not much to say here, :idea: but recovery, classifie,then refinement!!

Ken

 

[Claudie]

35 to 40 cell fone with a good strategy yealds 1 gram of gold +or- 0,4grams------0,3to 0,4 of pd and 10grams of ag(i never got more then 4grams)-----the way you described what you did,i doubt that you will get 10% of what i mentioned
i studied and exchanged experience with many members of this forum,read many books(hoke,ammen,kadja-----inorganic qualitative analysis)and yet i am not fully sure of the processes i use----i am doingn these extractions for more then 4years---- i will not disclose what i do---- i only am writing this thread to tell you ,without arrogance,and wishing sucess ,that you are in the wrong track,and should change your strategy----- i do around 300kilos of cellphone boards monthly----about 11000 cellphones-------
regards
Arthur

Using these numbers, 1 average cell phone would contain .025 grams of Gold.

 

[arthur kierski]

Claudie, that is correct---0,025grams or more, sometimes 0,034grams(nokia numbers)-----up to now ,i never obtained less then 0,025grams-----as for pd it should be(nokias numbers)0,015grams per board,but because of sorting(separating ) the components from the board and sieving ,iget an average 0,07grams per cell----0,28grams per kilo
regards,
Arthur

as the cellphone gets smaller,i obtain up to 48boards per kilo----this give per kilo 1,2grams of gold and0,33grams of pd per kilo--- this are my numbers, and perhaps they are low because people that buy cellfone boards pays a very good price per kilo---this implies that perhaps there is more pms that i can extract----this is just an adendo
regards again
Arthur

 

[Claudie]

Thank you very much for sharing your results.

 

[patnor1011]

Martyl111 ,thanks for the link to Hokes book.
Bucher, the color is a dark green, does this indicate base metals present.
Arhur , not sure what you are saying . I 'm basicly on a exploratory to find what can be obtained from computer parts and cell phones and how to extract it properly.
I dont need useless post that increase the the writers post number and realy say little. I am a newbe not stupid.
Back to the problem, cell phone extraction, sol #1 HNO3 is where my Ag is ok. Sol #2 problem , I used AR , color dark green. Have I lost my gold?

You joined 5 months ago. If you are still looking for Hoke`s book (which I doubt you do) you just waste money by putting stuff to acid. You are wasting time of other members with mess you are creating if you do not want to put some effort in learning or understanding refining. You may consider to find another hobby.