Gold inside chips (black, flatpacks - not CPU)
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bmgold2
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I put off posting here for a while but then couldn't take it any more. It took me a bit over a day to go through this whole thread but this was exactly the information I needed to get me started. The circuit boards I have a lot of have very little visible gold on them and I don't have a garage full of old computers to scrap. My boards do have integrated circuits on them so I ripped a couple off and crushed them up. I didn't bother burning them to ash yet but I did do a real quick test.
What I did was crush a couple chips up. Sift the dust through a fine tea screen. Then, I put a pinch of the powdered chips into a small glass vial along with a couple mL of the SSN leach that I got with a gold testing kit and heated it up a bit. As you would expect, the solution turned green but when I tested it with a drop (one tiny drop) of stannous chloride, the test gave an instant black color. On waiting longer (over night), the test was negative for gold but I expected that since there was so much copper in the dust. I did another quick test where I pre-leached the dust (a new batch) with a little HCl to get rid of some of the copper. That test worked even better but I still didn't get all the copper out.
It doesn't really matter. My goal was to prove that there was gold in these chips and I did it. Now I plan to save up a bunch of them and do it right. This is so much better than my last idea which was crushing up rocks looking for some gold. With that idea, I was getting a questionable light purple test with the stannous and it took a few drops of stannous to get that.
Another reason for posting here was because several people mentioned using a blue bowl to concentrate the ash. My idea is to build a device called a Miller table.http://lmgtfy.com/?q=miller+table+gold It looks like a very easy and cheap to build device that should get you a clean concentrate to process. That's my plan anyway although I am pretty confident in my gold panning due to not having gold in this area but still looking. I can find microscopic specks of gold if they are here.
I hope bumping this thread back up will give others who might not have seen this another place to find gold in your scrap. It was worth the time to read the whole thread even if there was a bit of unneeded content to sort through.
Thanks to Patnor1011 for starting this topic and for the ebook on the process.
bmgold2 - a very happy new refiner
What I did was crush a couple chips up. Sift the dust through a fine tea screen. Then, I put a pinch of the powdered chips into a small glass vial along with a couple mL of the SSN leach that I got with a gold testing kit and heated it up a bit. As you would expect, the solution turned green but when I tested it with a drop (one tiny drop) of stannous chloride, the test gave an instant black color. On waiting longer (over night), the test was negative for gold but I expected that since there was so much copper in the dust. I did another quick test where I pre-leached the dust (a new batch) with a little HCl to get rid of some of the copper. That test worked even better but I still didn't get all the copper out.
It doesn't really matter. My goal was to prove that there was gold in these chips and I did it. Now I plan to save up a bunch of them and do it right. This is so much better than my last idea which was crushing up rocks looking for some gold. With that idea, I was getting a questionable light purple test with the stannous and it took a few drops of stannous to get that.
Another reason for posting here was because several people mentioned using a blue bowl to concentrate the ash. My idea is to build a device called a Miller table.http://lmgtfy.com/?q=miller+table+gold It looks like a very easy and cheap to build device that should get you a clean concentrate to process. That's my plan anyway although I am pretty confident in my gold panning due to not having gold in this area but still looking. I can find microscopic specks of gold if they are here.
I hope bumping this thread back up will give others who might not have seen this another place to find gold in your scrap. It was worth the time to read the whole thread even if there was a bit of unneeded content to sort through.
Thanks to Patnor1011 for starting this topic and for the ebook on the process.
bmgold2 - a very happy new refiner
bmgold2
Would the Miller Table work to separate the all metals from the ash or would it separate your gold from everything?
The reason I ask this is because from what I understand about the blue bowl is to separate the metals from the ash, therefore giving you a less junk to PMs ratio to process.
Therefore if you were trying to clean ash from your material the blue bowl (along with some agitation) would be more efficient then the Miller table for you could deal in larger proportions at a time.
But this all depends on what exactly the Miller table separates.
CJ
Would the Miller Table work to separate the all metals from the ash or would it separate your gold from everything?
The reason I ask this is because from what I understand about the blue bowl is to separate the metals from the ash, therefore giving you a less junk to PMs ratio to process.
Therefore if you were trying to clean ash from your material the blue bowl (along with some agitation) would be more efficient then the Miller table for you could deal in larger proportions at a time.
But this all depends on what exactly the Miller table separates.
CJ
bmgold2
Well-known member
I think it all depends on the water flow and the angle you set it at. It also needs the material classified so it is all the same size much like a blue bowl does (to work best). I haven't tried it yet but I think you should be able to at least separate the metal from the ash. It may be possible to even separate the gold from the copper. From what I seen, I think the larger copper pieces will be easy to separate from the ash by screening but I haven't actually burnt any to ash yet so I'm unsure. I'd still process the copper in case a little gold is on it. I think the main amount of gold in these parts are very fine wires which require a good magnifier or even microscope to see until they are gathered together like in a gold pan.
I'm not sure how fast or slow the blue bowl is but the miller table is not a real fast tool. You feed it material with a spoon and wait for the water to separate the lighter blond and black sands from the fine gold. It is really a clean up or finishing tool. Once I get to work on the chips (which are still in the devices needing ripped apart), I will try to take some pictures of how it works for me. I don't have an actual miller table but plan to use an aluminum sluice box with the riffles removed and a small water pump to improvise one. Like I said, it's really about the water flow and angle of the table as well as the surface that determines how it works. Various surfaces have been used by others including old chalk boards, sand blasted glass, or other flat surfaces with a little grip to the surface. Self-healing cutting mats (especially green ones) seem to be the ones most used in homemade ones (from what I've read).
I'm slow and impatient so I don't know when I'll actually get enough chips together to try this with enough quantity to have a good chance of getting more than a gram of gold in the end but I do plan to try this and will try to take some pictures as I do. Scan through the rest of this thread and you will find lots of pictures and even an idea of how much gold to expect from various types of chips.
Oh yea, the homemade miller table would be a lot cheaper than buying a blue bowl. If you already have a blue bowl or want an excuse to buy one, use it. I'm sure it works good.
bmgold2
I'm not sure how fast or slow the blue bowl is but the miller table is not a real fast tool. You feed it material with a spoon and wait for the water to separate the lighter blond and black sands from the fine gold. It is really a clean up or finishing tool. Once I get to work on the chips (which are still in the devices needing ripped apart), I will try to take some pictures of how it works for me. I don't have an actual miller table but plan to use an aluminum sluice box with the riffles removed and a small water pump to improvise one. Like I said, it's really about the water flow and angle of the table as well as the surface that determines how it works. Various surfaces have been used by others including old chalk boards, sand blasted glass, or other flat surfaces with a little grip to the surface. Self-healing cutting mats (especially green ones) seem to be the ones most used in homemade ones (from what I've read).
I'm slow and impatient so I don't know when I'll actually get enough chips together to try this with enough quantity to have a good chance of getting more than a gram of gold in the end but I do plan to try this and will try to take some pictures as I do. Scan through the rest of this thread and you will find lots of pictures and even an idea of how much gold to expect from various types of chips.
Oh yea, the homemade miller table would be a lot cheaper than buying a blue bowl. If you already have a blue bowl or want an excuse to buy one, use it. I'm sure it works good.
bmgold2
niteliteone
Well-known member
Bmgold2,
We have a well respected member here that made a step-by-step guide on how to build and use a "Miller Table"
Here is the link;
https://www.scribd.com/doc/28318404/How-to-Build-and-Operate-a-Miller-TableHope this helps you and others 8)
We have a well respected member here that made a step-by-step guide on how to build and use a "Miller Table"
Here is the link;
https://www.scribd.com/doc/28318404/How-to-Build-and-Operate-a-Miller-TableHope this helps you and others 8)
patnor1011
Well-known member
It really depend on amount. I did batches of kilograms in simple pan. Now I work on bigger batches so I had to scale up.
Something like Miller table will be nice to have, I now build sluice for separating ashes from wires. Rubber mat with rivets and small pump for recycling used water.
I am now working on this lot. Almost 14 kilograms of beauty.
Something like Miller table will be nice to have, I now build sluice for separating ashes from wires. Rubber mat with rivets and small pump for recycling used water.
I am now working on this lot. Almost 14 kilograms of beauty.
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bmgold2
Well-known member
Keep in mind that anything (gold pan, blue bowl, sluice box, miller table, etc.) will take a little bit of experimenting and practice to get it to separate your materials. I'd be more inclined to stick with a home made piece of equipment instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a pre-made one but that's just me.
Here's a video of another pretty simple looking fluid bed box that MIGHT work for concentrating the gold wires from the ashes. It's a long video but the idea looks like it would work. Just pre-wet your ashes so they don't just float out of the device. Even if they do, everything is self-contained so you can't lose it and you could always run the material a couple times if needed or try another method to get anything it missed.
Use whatever works for you but my thought is that the more money you spend on equipment, the less profit you get to keep. Of course, if something increases your efficiency or speed things up...Just giving another option to think about.
Here's a video of another pretty simple looking fluid bed box that MIGHT work for concentrating the gold wires from the ashes. It's a long video but the idea looks like it would work. Just pre-wet your ashes so they don't just float out of the device. Even if they do, everything is self-contained so you can't lose it and you could always run the material a couple times if needed or try another method to get anything it missed.
Use whatever works for you but my thought is that the more money you spend on equipment, the less profit you get to keep. Of course, if something increases your efficiency or speed things up...Just giving another option to think about.
patnor1011
Well-known member
patnor1011
Well-known member
picture 005 --- material ready to wash, after second sieving with fine sieve
picture 006 --- coarse material from fine sieving which is going to be crushed again in mortar&pestle
picture 007 --- gold wires started accumulating after shaking container in circular motion (still dry)
picture 008 --- accumulated wires removed from container prior second crushing, these will be treated with nitric to remove copper traces and added to wires washed from crushed material.
More pictures coming soon.
picture 006 --- coarse material from fine sieving which is going to be crushed again in mortar&pestle
picture 007 --- gold wires started accumulating after shaking container in circular motion (still dry)
picture 008 --- accumulated wires removed from container prior second crushing, these will be treated with nitric to remove copper traces and added to wires washed from crushed material.
More pictures coming soon.
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patnor1011
Well-known member
See that Haribo container? There were 3 of them full. My process may be slow I just try to do everything very carefully as I hate to lose even single bonding wire. However I improved washing - from gold pan to two stage sluice, one smaller (thin, long) one bigger (shorter but more wide) I will post some pictures tomorrow.
I use pump to circulate the same water going through cloth filter to catch mud but power supply failed so I have to do it with water from mains directly. Cant wait week for another power supply owner of them is waiting.
I use pump to circulate the same water going through cloth filter to catch mud but power supply failed so I have to do it with water from mains directly. Cant wait week for another power supply owner of them is waiting.
samuel-a
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Pat,
I have tried incinerated chips through the Blue Bowl... so far not very impressive. The gold wires tend to break while crushing and the small wire particles tend to float. have you noticed that as well?
p.s. - I hope you wear respirator while working with all of these fine powders.
I have tried incinerated chips through the Blue Bowl... so far not very impressive. The gold wires tend to break while crushing and the small wire particles tend to float. have you noticed that as well?
p.s. - I hope you wear respirator while working with all of these fine powders.
patnor1011
Well-known member
Yeah, the same happened to me, I had water running too fast on my sluice and some fine wires were carried away. I had big box to catch everything so nothing is lost I just have to run material again. I managed to run only about quarter and even that need to be run again. I will post pictures later on.
stardust18
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Hello everyone. Venerable patnor1011 ask if it is possible to put a photo of your washing plants for ash from the chips. With gratitude.patnor1011 said:
patnor1011
Well-known member
I did not take picture of whole setup operating but it is one big barrel to catch waste water and values which may be washed out. I run material 2/3 times. Then roof drain plastic pipe with rubber matting with riffles glued to bottom of that plastic pipe. And pump for circulating water from barrel to roof drain pipe sluice.
help in ridding ash from chips with water
help in ridding ash from chips with water
joubjonn
Well-known member
One tip could be to glue a couple hard drive magnets to the back of the drain pipe. Then when you do your cleanup of concentrate any mag pieces can be separated and you can go straight to AR for the gold wires. I'm sure you may have a small amount of copper present but that wouldn't ruin your day.
patnor1011
Well-known member
Depending on type of chip it can be a lot of copper and I would go for nitric leach first. That do have some other advantages, some chips contain Ag/Pd brazing, Ag will be dissolved in this leach along with copper.
Phillip Barrett
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Does anyone know what temperature it takes to burn the chips to a good ash? I have an old pottery kiln and was thinking of running a couple of pounds in it but I dont know what temp. to set it for. Do you think about 1000 to 1200 degrees F. would cook them enough or is that too hot?
GotTheBug
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You might run into a lack of oxygen to properly incinerate in the kiln. I'm using a small, home built foundry, lid off, with a steel container to contain the chips. There are holes drilled into the container to allow flame and air to pass over the chips, which sit on a steel screen inside the container. At approximately 1200 degrees, it takes 5 minutes to completely incinerate 300 or so grams of chips. Next time I do a run I'll take some pics.
Temperature should be enough to get the chips red glowing and then enough time and air that the center turns into ash and loses the black coal. The more packed together the chip are the harder oxygen have to reach the center.
Göran
Göran
jason_recliner
Well-known member
I have finally started a small test run with RAM chips: Just 22 single and double sided SDRAM and DDR sticks carrying 130g of chips.
Using the coffee tin method with a few holes punched above the bottom and placed into the coals of a wood fire, only about half of them burned to white. I am now considering to make one of those soup-can furnaces. [Edit: I may mean forge. I'm not sure.]
This is not a question, but I'm not sure I entirely understand bond wires. Google / wiki don't say much. Inside my RAM it looks like the thick leg connecting wires, made of "whatever" spider into the centre and than have a short (1 - 1.5mm long) golden tip attached to them. They seem fairly firmly attached. But the main point is that they're quite thick and visible, whereas I was expecting something I could barely see.
With the large black bits picked out for reprocessing, I've had a go at panning anyway. I own one of those turbopans, with the spiralling ridges. They're great for processing large amounts of gravel quickly, but I'm not sure it's the best for small amounts with dust; with so many ridges in which to collect, a regular pan might be better. I am also not about to win any prizes for World's Greatest Panner*. Nevertheless I am pleased to start to see a little colour. But this is just fine dust, much finer than what I thought I could see on the legs.
Am I right in understanding that the silicon wafers with the shiny yellow appearance (one placed into shot) contain NO gold at all?
* I googled that term and found a pile of recipes for Indian cuisine.
Using the coffee tin method with a few holes punched above the bottom and placed into the coals of a wood fire, only about half of them burned to white. I am now considering to make one of those soup-can furnaces. [Edit: I may mean forge. I'm not sure.]
This is not a question, but I'm not sure I entirely understand bond wires. Google / wiki don't say much. Inside my RAM it looks like the thick leg connecting wires, made of "whatever" spider into the centre and than have a short (1 - 1.5mm long) golden tip attached to them. They seem fairly firmly attached. But the main point is that they're quite thick and visible, whereas I was expecting something I could barely see.
With the large black bits picked out for reprocessing, I've had a go at panning anyway. I own one of those turbopans, with the spiralling ridges. They're great for processing large amounts of gravel quickly, but I'm not sure it's the best for small amounts with dust; with so many ridges in which to collect, a regular pan might be better. I am also not about to win any prizes for World's Greatest Panner*. Nevertheless I am pleased to start to see a little colour. But this is just fine dust, much finer than what I thought I could see on the legs.
Am I right in understanding that the silicon wafers with the shiny yellow appearance (one placed into shot) contain NO gold at all?
* I googled that term and found a pile of recipes for Indian cuisine.
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