I have a friend that has a very good sourse of gold pins that are recycled after being used in testing connections in very expensive(millions of dollars) engines they are a copper gold mix and i dont kniw how to seperate the gold from the copper. Going by the weight of the pins, i think that they have large percentage of gold. Does anyone have any ways they know of that would seperate the metals. I have read a little involving gold recovery but it seems like i need to use nitric acid to recover it but i dont fully understand the process or if that is the best method. If anyone has any ideas i would love to know.
Gold recovery from gold pins
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patnor1011
Well-known member
It requires some time to get grip on refining. In your case and if you want to have it done fast you can either have it toll refined or sold. You can sell it on ebay or over here.
If you decide to go refining route then all you need to know is here on forum. But as I said, it will take some time to get to know basics.
If you decide to go refining route then all you need to know is here on forum. But as I said, it will take some time to get to know basics.
etack
Well-known member
I will bet that they are not a gold copper alloy. I have seen and have some Deutsch connectors for the Airbus and not a single pin is Cu/Au alloy. I also took apart some backplanes for the patriot systems and none of them were a Au/Cu alloy. They maybe by some weird blue moon freak of nature be Au/Cu alloy but not likely.
With that said all GP pins have a Cu value and a Au value so they should be separated from other forms of scrap.
Eric
With that said all GP pins have a Cu value and a Au value so they should be separated from other forms of scrap.
Eric
Woodworker1997
Well-known member
Gold plated copper.
Derek.
Derek.
patnor1011
Well-known member
Flash plating, not much value.
Too much of weight.
Too much of weight.
Geo
Well-known member
the gold plating on those pins are great but, the over all gold to base metal weight is going to be low because the pins are so big and bulky. good for gold recovery but not exceptional. if the pins have never been installed or soldered, they may yield 2g per pound but i would be very skeptical.
test pins are usually well plated.
test pins are usually well plated.
How many pounds of those pins do you have? if you have several pounds I would save them till you are ready, if you do not have several pounds, I would save them and collect some more material.
it normally takes pounds of waste to get a few grams of gold.
Recovery and refining take time to learn, it can take several years even to learn the basics well, and I believe a man could study this his whole life and never learn all there is to it. also it is a skill that can take some time to master, or at least get to the point where you can do it, and do it where you are safe with yourself and others.
We deal with very corrosive acids and many times combinations of acids that are so corrosive they will dissolve the most acid resistant metals on our planet, which also form very corrosive and toxic gases, some of these gases were used in war, and even death chambers.
We have to also learn to deal with toxic waste we generate from the metals and acids, so that we do not poison others with these poisonous metal solutions, and understand how to deal with the waste so that it does not get into the drinking water of us or other people, as if left untreated and disposed of properly these solution can also leach there way down through the earth into the drinking water deep underground, or end up in rivers or streams where whole towns get there drinking water.
Besides the toxic gases and risks of poisoning yourself or others, there is even risk of mixing up some metal and chemical that has the potential to make an explosive substance in the glass you hold in your hand looking into this glass to see the reaction inside, there are several other dangers you will need to be aware of and protect your self and others against, that is where education is the first step in gaining the understanding needed to prepare yourself for that protection.
Like many skills a man may wish to learn it can take a lifetime trying to improve his skills in this art, even after he has come to the point where he has mastered the recovery and refining processes in general, each material and combinations of metals may take somewhat different processes, and many times even the simplest of scrap may take learning several different processes to be able to recover and refine the metal, on top of that sometimes there can even be different processes one could use or choose to use to recover that metal, this is why it can be hard to come up with or write a specific process of how to recover and refine the circumstance can be different even when recovering or refining two different batches of the same type of metal scrap, and you may have to adjust the process accordingly.
To recover and refine metals, you will be dealing with the chemistry of metals, each metal reacts somewhat differently in acids and bases, which can give us a way to separate these metals using that chemistry, recovery and refining is also a skilled art, that takes some time to master, you do not have to understand the chemistry in great detail to learn this art, but you do need to learn enough of its chemistry to be able to understand how these metals react to chemically in differing conditions, and the better you understand that chemistry the better you will be at this art, the more you understand of chemistry the more you will also understand in how the reactions occur and why.
C.M. Hokes book will help you understand the chemistry, but this book does not teach you the chemistry, but introduces you to it, the author Calm Morrison Hoke in her book she speaks in layman's terms to teach enough of the reactions of how these metals react chemically, to help jewelers learn how to recover metals from their waste, although she was a chemist she does not go into the chemistry of these metals in any great depth, but does a great job of introducing you to the basics principles of the metals chemistry, to help you to understand how to separate these metals from each other chemically from each other, by doing the getting acquainted experiments in her book, it helps you get the hands on experience you need to recognize the reactions and how many of these metals react differently with the different acids, how some metals would become problems if they were in solutions with certain acids or even with our gold in the same solution.
The forum is a huge library a collection of most anything related to this field, this library here on the forum may be the biggest and best collection of material in the world on this subject. The knowledge help and shared among members here on this forum has been kept secret from man, since man began finding and recovering precious metals through out history, as these metals often meant wealth and power throughout history, many times these skills were kept secret or surrounded in mystery or magic to keep others from learning the skills, Here on the forum we have been lucky enough to have some professionals in this art to share many of those secrets with us, and also share from there lifetime of work in the skills of this art. The forum is like a university, most likely the best university in the world to learn this art.
If you asked me how to get the gold off of those pins I would say you dissolve the different metals with acids and precipitate them back out of solution. but if you wish to learn how to do it, you will need to be willing to spend quite a bit of time studying, which in itself is actually where most of the fun is in this field of work.
Welcome to the forum I hope this helps you get an understanding of where you need to begin to learn to get the gold off of those pins.
it normally takes pounds of waste to get a few grams of gold.
Recovery and refining take time to learn, it can take several years even to learn the basics well, and I believe a man could study this his whole life and never learn all there is to it. also it is a skill that can take some time to master, or at least get to the point where you can do it, and do it where you are safe with yourself and others.
We deal with very corrosive acids and many times combinations of acids that are so corrosive they will dissolve the most acid resistant metals on our planet, which also form very corrosive and toxic gases, some of these gases were used in war, and even death chambers.
We have to also learn to deal with toxic waste we generate from the metals and acids, so that we do not poison others with these poisonous metal solutions, and understand how to deal with the waste so that it does not get into the drinking water of us or other people, as if left untreated and disposed of properly these solution can also leach there way down through the earth into the drinking water deep underground, or end up in rivers or streams where whole towns get there drinking water.
Besides the toxic gases and risks of poisoning yourself or others, there is even risk of mixing up some metal and chemical that has the potential to make an explosive substance in the glass you hold in your hand looking into this glass to see the reaction inside, there are several other dangers you will need to be aware of and protect your self and others against, that is where education is the first step in gaining the understanding needed to prepare yourself for that protection.
Like many skills a man may wish to learn it can take a lifetime trying to improve his skills in this art, even after he has come to the point where he has mastered the recovery and refining processes in general, each material and combinations of metals may take somewhat different processes, and many times even the simplest of scrap may take learning several different processes to be able to recover and refine the metal, on top of that sometimes there can even be different processes one could use or choose to use to recover that metal, this is why it can be hard to come up with or write a specific process of how to recover and refine the circumstance can be different even when recovering or refining two different batches of the same type of metal scrap, and you may have to adjust the process accordingly.
To recover and refine metals, you will be dealing with the chemistry of metals, each metal reacts somewhat differently in acids and bases, which can give us a way to separate these metals using that chemistry, recovery and refining is also a skilled art, that takes some time to master, you do not have to understand the chemistry in great detail to learn this art, but you do need to learn enough of its chemistry to be able to understand how these metals react to chemically in differing conditions, and the better you understand that chemistry the better you will be at this art, the more you understand of chemistry the more you will also understand in how the reactions occur and why.
C.M. Hokes book will help you understand the chemistry, but this book does not teach you the chemistry, but introduces you to it, the author Calm Morrison Hoke in her book she speaks in layman's terms to teach enough of the reactions of how these metals react chemically, to help jewelers learn how to recover metals from their waste, although she was a chemist she does not go into the chemistry of these metals in any great depth, but does a great job of introducing you to the basics principles of the metals chemistry, to help you to understand how to separate these metals from each other chemically from each other, by doing the getting acquainted experiments in her book, it helps you get the hands on experience you need to recognize the reactions and how many of these metals react differently with the different acids, how some metals would become problems if they were in solutions with certain acids or even with our gold in the same solution.
The forum is a huge library a collection of most anything related to this field, this library here on the forum may be the biggest and best collection of material in the world on this subject. The knowledge help and shared among members here on this forum has been kept secret from man, since man began finding and recovering precious metals through out history, as these metals often meant wealth and power throughout history, many times these skills were kept secret or surrounded in mystery or magic to keep others from learning the skills, Here on the forum we have been lucky enough to have some professionals in this art to share many of those secrets with us, and also share from there lifetime of work in the skills of this art. The forum is like a university, most likely the best university in the world to learn this art.
If you asked me how to get the gold off of those pins I would say you dissolve the different metals with acids and precipitate them back out of solution. but if you wish to learn how to do it, you will need to be willing to spend quite a bit of time studying, which in itself is actually where most of the fun is in this field of work.
Welcome to the forum I hope this helps you get an understanding of where you need to begin to learn to get the gold off of those pins.
element47.5
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 10, 2012
- Messages
- 295
"does anyone know if theres a way of melting it that would seperate the metals?"
No, instead, we know that there is NO WAY of melting that separates the metals. Melting does NOT separate metals. And, if performed under uncontrolled conditions, creates impurities, most often oxides, but others as well, which are generally less than friendly when it comes to refining. I suppose it is possible that with a roomful of sophisticated lab gear (and a ton of support equipment) one might be able to fractionally distill metals...but the costs of the equipment, not to mention the energy inputs needed would be staggering.
There is no person on this forum who has not wished there were simpler ways to refine PMs. It would be GREAT if we could avoid the use of nitric acid. It would be GREAT if we could avoid generating seriously toxic fumes and by-products. If any of those processes worked reliably, we would use them. We are not gluttons for punishment. The folks who do this work regularly, in large quantities (whatever "large" means to you) are, despite the hundreds of times they have done these processes, NOT looking for "new ways" to conduct the work. Instead, there is an adherence to known procedures, painstaking though they might be. Why is that? Because....if the end result is the desire to obtain gold or silver or other values, then trying unproven methods risks those very values you are trying to isolate. As well as the time, effort, and chemicals needed to pursue that/those alternate route(s).
Ponder the context. You don't have X-ray or magic vision: There is no shortage of people who see gold in those pins you have, or on PC board connectors or on chips. There is no shortage of desire to own gold. There is no shortage of imagination starting with the phrase "if only I could [melt these pins, dissolve these pins, get the gold out of these pins, wave a magic wand.....] The end result is that the folks who learn and adhere to procedures, which you can learn on this forum (but it will take a serious amount of concentrated effort because they flat-out are not easy) can ultimately recover and refine small amounts of precious metals AND retain their eyesight and not have to spend weeks in a hospital bed wondering if their lungs will ever recover their capacity to breathe.
If there were simpler ways, the veterans on this forum would cheerfully switch to using them and wholeheatedly advocate for them. This is the simple, simple, simple concept that beginners simply cannot understand.
No, instead, we know that there is NO WAY of melting that separates the metals. Melting does NOT separate metals. And, if performed under uncontrolled conditions, creates impurities, most often oxides, but others as well, which are generally less than friendly when it comes to refining. I suppose it is possible that with a roomful of sophisticated lab gear (and a ton of support equipment) one might be able to fractionally distill metals...but the costs of the equipment, not to mention the energy inputs needed would be staggering.
There is no person on this forum who has not wished there were simpler ways to refine PMs. It would be GREAT if we could avoid the use of nitric acid. It would be GREAT if we could avoid generating seriously toxic fumes and by-products. If any of those processes worked reliably, we would use them. We are not gluttons for punishment. The folks who do this work regularly, in large quantities (whatever "large" means to you) are, despite the hundreds of times they have done these processes, NOT looking for "new ways" to conduct the work. Instead, there is an adherence to known procedures, painstaking though they might be. Why is that? Because....if the end result is the desire to obtain gold or silver or other values, then trying unproven methods risks those very values you are trying to isolate. As well as the time, effort, and chemicals needed to pursue that/those alternate route(s).
Ponder the context. You don't have X-ray or magic vision: There is no shortage of people who see gold in those pins you have, or on PC board connectors or on chips. There is no shortage of desire to own gold. There is no shortage of imagination starting with the phrase "if only I could [melt these pins, dissolve these pins, get the gold out of these pins, wave a magic wand.....] The end result is that the folks who learn and adhere to procedures, which you can learn on this forum (but it will take a serious amount of concentrated effort because they flat-out are not easy) can ultimately recover and refine small amounts of precious metals AND retain their eyesight and not have to spend weeks in a hospital bed wondering if their lungs will ever recover their capacity to breathe.
If there were simpler ways, the veterans on this forum would cheerfully switch to using them and wholeheatedly advocate for them. This is the simple, simple, simple concept that beginners simply cannot understand.
jimdoc
Well-known member
They are just gold plated.
Jim
Jim
Geo
Well-known member
gold plated brass (copper/zinc alloy).
To make money, think in terms of buckets or drums of those pins. 50 grams will net you a few dollars if you're lucky. You can estimate the value as to the surface area of gold plating. One square inch of gold plating is worth about 40 cents, at most. Pins made from solid gold alloys don't exist. Everything is very thinly plated. I started in this business in 1966. It was the same back then. Everything was plated. No exceptions.
This is the straight poop. Anything you hear different is BS.
This is the straight poop. Anything you hear different is BS.
Pantherlikher
Well-known member
goldsilverpro said:
Hmm... I hear my initials being used in vain.... Ha ha...
The answers given here should be given to any new person asking this question. I've read early posts and these kinds of answers were given and made me second guess what I wanted to do and was doing. Although, there needs to be links to the beginning of this journey. Like for Hoke's book/ our bible.
Quick answer would be: no, you cannot melt the pins into a mess and hope to get gold. No, you will not get rich with those pins. Yes, if you dedicate yourself to this university and study long and hard on safety and proper procedures, you will one day be able to use the pin supply to build a nest egg of "bling".
Good luck and hopefully, you stay a while to find what you wish.
B.S.
...Mankind has always searched the materials to find happyness...
...Look to your inside, through all the wants and see the happyness hidden from site...
goldsilverpro said:
Referencing your statements regarding the estimated amount expected to collect from those pins , my question is is that the same for the gold plated pins for processor boards in computers? And what would be in your expert opinion , the highest yielding material to refine with the best results?
solar_plasma
Well-known member
CPU pins have more goldplated area per weight. Just calculate your pins goldplated area, guess the thickness and purity and you have your estimated yield. Guess low, if you don't want to have a bad wake-up from a nice dream.
edit: but goldsilverpro already gave the answer
edit: but goldsilverpro already gave the answer
etack
Well-known member
Indego77 said:
Karat gold this is the easiest. I like slip rings too and grass sensors for brain waves. the ones I get are gold over silver no Nickel layer. pins are good if you have volume. fingers are good to start with too.
Eric
Okay, i put tge pins in a dilluted nitric acid mixture abd it seemed to do the job leaving me with very thin flakes of gold. I then melted them and recovered about 3/4 of a gram from 200 pins so its not very profitable but i will probably save them up for a few years and might have a nice nugget. Thanks for all the help
Below is the bead i got
Below is the bead i got
