gold purity content

[blackwolf365]

im sure this question has been asked before, and several times id bet, but its late here where i am, im tired and i just dont want to go looking for the answer right now, as im about to cut the world out for a few hours and get some sleep. apologies if i am coming off as rude or something, im not trying to be.

the question i have is this: allowing for the fact tht not all e-scrap has the same gold content, can anyone tell me what an average general idea of how much gold is contained in e scrap? i want to run some numbers and get a basic and general idea of how much potential profit i might be able to make. again, i fully accept and acknowledge that numbers given wont be entirely accurate due to the fact that not all e-scrap has the same gold content.

and please forgive any misspelled words on my part...

 

[nickvc]

You are asking a question that’s almost impossible to answer as it has so many variables...
What type of scrap.
What processes are you going to use .
How good are you at recovery and refining in any or all of the processes.
What chemicals can you get.
What equipment do you have or are going to buy.
The only real important point to question is how much can you recover and refine and does that come close to others numbers on the same scrap, if not you are not doing it correctly or their numbers are wrong.

 

[niks neims]

easy, its 42....

oops, I mean 9.12, 9.12 %

https://www.statista.com/statistics/299609/gold-demand-by-industry-sector-share/

8)

If you'd prefer kg's to % then 0.0912 from total 190 040 000 kg gold in the world is about ~17 000 tons (i feel it is safe to round up to 20 000), now just divide 20 000 by the total number of computers, phones, etc. in the world and you'll get your answer....

so if you'll get ALL of the electronics gold you could potentially make ~700 billion...

 

[blackwolf365]

looking back through this one, i'm not sure if my original question was worded right to get at the point i was looking for.

so, with that in mind, i say this: allowing for the fact that each type of ram and/or size of chip has a different amount of metal in it, is the content of gold in that metal a standard content/level of purity or is it as varied as the amount of metal is per type and size of chip?

hope that clarifies my original question.

 

[nickvc]

Your question is still not very clear but I’ll try and help.
The gold in most electronics is fine gold or very near as it’s plated , some items have karat alloys but in general they are rare.
The amount of gold in any particular chip is usually a standard amount but can vary depending on when or where it was made but there are figures out there that can be fairly reliable as to what expected yields can be.
The point I made before also comes into play about how good at recovery and refining you are, just because someone gets a yield of say 4 grams a pound from something doesn’t mean you can or will.

My advice stop dreaming of how much you can make and start reading and learning, many here on the forum probably lose money if time and equipment costs are taken into account but continue because it’s a fun hobby, some actually make a living from it but the biggest problem for most is sourcing enough scrap and loses on small quantities are greater than on large volumes by percentage even if done correctly.
Again I pointed out that you can always source sort and sell the scrap and in truth it will probably make you more money than actually refining and I see no problem in that, many times stuff on eBay sells for more than its scrap value.

 

[blackwolf365]

with enough time, patience and persistence, i can find a decent source for scrap to refine. or even sell to others.

im not such a fool as to try and make a living at this, and right now, ll i am doing is researching it. i donr even want to try to make a living at this. just want to find a decent scrap source and use it to have a hoby that might actually one day make me a few bucks on the side.

as for stopping the dreaming: not gonna happen for me. the dreams may change for me, but i'll never stop dreaming. i just wont let myself get to caught up in them. as dumbledor told harry at the end of the first book: it doesnt do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

besides, it keeps me occupied.

 

[glorycloud]

I came to this forum many years ago with delusions of how much gold
had to be in a computer based upon how much gold I could visibly see
with the naked eye. I asked "dumb" questions and it took a while before
I would listen to the answers because I was sure that I was looking at
a veritable gold mine in e-scrap.

The truth became real to me when I rolled up my sleeves and actually
tried to process and refine something. Suddenly I became fully aware
of what was involved and what it was really going to take to get gold
from this pile of boards, memory, CPU's, etc. that I had in large supply
as I was in the recycling / resale computer industry every day.

Many very kind people here on the forum were VERY patient with me
as I stumbled along the path to my first gold "button". It was more like
a gold amoeba or cow patty actually but it was refined gold nonetheless. 8)

Start small and try something and learn. I started with gold fingers and
then I worked with gold pins and CPU's based upon the chemistry that
I learned doing the basic AP process.

Today, I make much more selling my scrap and parts for resale than I ever
will by refining what I have but the process of learning has been well worth
all the work and effort to hold each gold button that I personally have refined.
As my little nephew used to say with pride: "did it self".

 

[denim]

I echo glorycloud's sentiments where he said "Today, I make much more selling my scrap and parts for resale than I ever will by refining what I have but the process of learning has been well worth all the work and effort to hold each gold button that I personally have refined."
If your intent is to make money then listen to glory's advice. If your intent is to spend hundreds of hours to learn something new, something that can indeed be very rewarding but costly both money and time wise, then by all means carry on with the learning (studying), understanding safety at all times, amassing very large quantities of scrap, dealing with the inevitable quantities of hazardous waste acids etc... Refining precious metals from ewaste is not something one can just jump into all willy-nilly and expect success. It takes an incredible amount of time and considerable cash outlay as well.

Best of luck in your adventures,
Dennis

 

[blackwolf365]

I echo glorycloud's sentiments where he said "Today, I make much more selling my scrap and parts for resale than I ever will by refining what I have but the process of learning has been well worth all the work and effort to hold each gold button that I personally have refined."
If your intent is to make money then listen to glory's advice. If your intent is to spend hundreds of hours to learn something new, something that can indeed be very rewarding but costly both money and time wise, then by all means carry on with the learning (studying), understanding safety at all times, amassing very large quantities of scrap, dealing with the inevitable quantities of hazardous waste acids etc... Refining precious metals from ewaste is not something one can just jump into all willy-nilly and expect success. It takes an incredible amount of time and considerable cash outlay as well.

Best of luck in your adventures,
Dennis

i do realize that one does not simply just jump in blindly to this. there are far to many ways to hurt yourself, cause damage to property, and contaminate the environment. and if one goes far enough into it, as in refining rhodium, it gets even more dangerous.

even so, i still want to try this. i may not make a financial profit, but i will learn things. and that will be a profit in its self,

 

[niks neims]

even so, i still want to try this. i may not make a financial profit, but i will learn things. and that will be a profit in its self,

1. Read Hoke

2. Acquire 2-3 kg of gold fingers and do an AP onto them.

3.Then do AR run on recovered material.

4.???

5.Profit!

Forget, "ideas", "pressure cookers" and other pipe dreams for now, don't burden yourself and others with it until you have learned the basics at least, in the process you'll also learn how to search for information on the forum, these methods are discussed here in depth, if you are able to read you should really have no additional questions to ask on these subjects, all of the information is here...

we will wait right here for the picture of your first gold button! good luck!