gold recovery / question for the experts

[donald236]

i was looking at e-bay and come acrosssome instering stuff . i saw some gold plated (24k) coins that was not selling for much at all and some plated speaker plugs i'm wondering if these type of things among other things would be good for refining for the gold ? what type of yeild would you get from these ? would the cell method be best for this type of stuff?
any info would be helpfull . thanks in advance
donald

 

[lazersteve]

Don,

Those items are typically flash plated so don't expect much. Yields from 0.0 to 0.25 grams per pound maximum.

Unless they are free, don't waste you time and even then it's most likely a waste of time for the waste generated. Spend your time and chemicals on more productive ventures is my advice to you.

Steve

 

[donald236]

ok thanks for the advice . what other items would you guys suggest other than computer circuit boards could a man look at buying or getting ? (and by circuit boards i mean the pins and fingers) becausei want to look into all asspects . i know the cpus are good but the thing im after is what else can i refine besides computer things ?
thanks again for any and all advice
donald

 

[calgoldrecyclers]

Donald,
try the following:
old pbx systems.( office telephones ca. 70's & 80's)
old phone line blocks
computer cables
24K GP christmas decorations
medical instruments( gluco meters, all electronics, etc.)
stay away from hard drives, keyboards, monitors
hope that helps a little.

 

[ChucknC]

I dissagree about staying away from keyboards and hard drives. The keyboards can have a mylar sheet with silver etching that can be recovered and the hard drives contain gold, some palladium and in some cases platinum. Then there is the recycling of aluminum bodies and steel in the screws.

Good scrap is all around if you take the time to check out yard sales, junk shops, flea markets and the like. It takes time and you must be willing to find a market for your base metals. That's where I get the money for my chemicals.

Chuck

 

[calgoldrecyclers]

chuck,
for all intents and purposes, there isnt nearly enough yield to be found in keyboards or hard drives to warrant any PM recycling. contrary to popular belief, hard drives do not contain pd or pt. there is a trace of ruthenium on the platter (about two microns thick) , but such a small amount, is not profitable to refine. (most keyboards actually contain Al not Ag for the key traces)

 

[skyline27]

Keyboards are hard to work with. The amount of time invested and waste generated to get a speck of silver is hard to justify. Many recyclers charge customers for there disposal

Hard drives are more feasible if you dismantle alot of them fast.

 

[banjags]

I dont regard keyboards as a waste of time at all. Yes if you look at it on a one off basis it does not seem that feasible.

The only waste I see from a keyboard is the little circuit board inside. The plastic in volume can be sold to a scrap dealer for about 10-12 cents per pound. and the mylars kept for silver. and the wire for copper scrap.I currently have like 30-40 keyboards waiting to be taken apart with access to hundreds of keyboards. 40 keyboards would yield around 1/2 ounce of silver according to lasersteves findings. That silver is good for jewellery inquartation. A keyboard takes no longer on average than 1 minute to disassemble. Speed is the key.

Hard drives the aluminium adds up fast so it is definetly worth it. again quantity is key. The platters sell well on ebay as most computer scrap does if you do not want to process for platinum. Then you also have the gold pins from the hard drives as well you will need alot of these to make it worth while to process.

 

[donald236]

he you guys thanks for all the advice. you guys keep saying there is silver in key boards i know about the circuit board but what the heck is a mylar? i can get lots of key boards some times.

 

[skyline27]

Banjags

Save the circuit boards. They're worth at least a buck a pound (or more on ebay)

Do you actually have someone that buys plastic or was your statement theoretical? I'm up to my neck in plastic and haven't found anyone to take it. I would be thrilled to get something for it.

 

[calgoldrecyclers]

donald,
the mylar is the plasic sheet under the actual keys in the keyboard. they register to the circuit board underneath. hope that helps.

also, who keeps saying there is pt content on the platters? there is no pt content. it is aluminum or iron oxide ( brown platters) the newer platters are a glass composite coated with cobalt and sometimes a micron or two of ruthenium.

 

[donald236]

ok i've seen the mylar's you guys are talking about . now i have a tough
question(lol) would a person refine these in ap or what type of process would be best for this?

 

[donald236]

and cgr i think they are getting the pt part from steve's videos

 

[scrapman1077]

http://www.platinum.matthey.com/applications/harddisk.html
Check this out

 

[skyline27]

That makes modern machines a little tastier to scrap. Diminishing returns

 

[calgoldrecyclers]

i just e-mailed Johnson Mathey for proof of data to back up their claim. their claims do not not match my research into the matter at all. unless of course they count the two micron layer of ruthenium as platinum? but, that still would'nt explain the 35% platinum claim they are going on. i have read websites like storagereview.com, which they state what a hard drive is comprised of. there would be no reason for them to embellish. on the other and, J/M would make money with a statement like 35% pt value on platters.

 

[calgoldrecyclers]

Oh, and about the dissolution of mylar plastic?
i dont have the answer for that one. lazersteve (for lack of memory of all the knowledgeable fellers and screen names out there), would probably be able to help you along with that. although, i would'nt go down that acid dissolving road. petroleum products and acid dont mix too terribly well.
good luck.

 

[lazersteve]

Cal,

Would you believe an internal engineering document from Fujitsu Corporation detailing the construction of hard drives include the listing of Pt as an ingredient of hard drive platter construction?

Read this:

Fujitsu HDD Document

I agree the amount is minuscule, and the effort far outweighs the yields, but the fact remains there is Pt in some hard drive platters. The above document includes the percentages and the date codes of drives which contain the Pt.

Steve

 

[calgoldrecyclers]

Thanks Lazersteve,
I'm gonna go check that out now.

 

[calgoldrecyclers]

Wow!
that was a very informative read. i stand corrected. there is platinum in hard drives. well, it may be such a trace amount that, we, as refiners would never be able to fathom, but the large refiners probably are able to capture a noticeable amount from, say ten thousand platters.
there are many metals to be recovered from platters, apparently. but, you would be hard pressed to be able to recover any. the pt content, is something like 15 NM. (nano meters- one billionth of a meter) imagine trying to see the head of a pin on the moon, while standing in your backyard!
so much processing would be involved, i wouldnt wish that on anyone.
so, there you have it.
i think, i will stick with what i can see!
good luck all! may your filters be heavily laden.