Hey I'm New

[GoldNoob]

I was roaming around on youtube when I came across a video on how to get gold and other metals from phones, computers, old tv's, etc., etc.

That soon brought me to this website, but that is not the reason of this post. My question is, how do you do it? I'm not into the chemistry involved in doing it as I am only 16 but I am really in to computers I have around 6 laying around in my garage that are taking up space and building up dust, they aren't going to make money any other way. I was wondering if there are any video, tutorials, or post on any magnetic way to pull out the metals. I was reading about how you can blend them up and use some sort of magnetic pull for each metal but I have seen no tutorials on how to make such a thing. Another question I had is what is the best way to do it chemicals or mechanical?

If any one has a link to something I can learn from to make something to get the metals out with out using that many chemicals I would appreciate it. Also I know it will take time to learn and I know I'm not going to become rich off 6 computers, I understand that if I want to continue doing this I will have to find a way to get more computers. This thread is mainly to find a way to do it with out chemistry. (If you have anything posted somewhere on how did it with as little chemicals as possible, I would love to read it.)


Thanks,
Matt

 

[jimmydolittle]

Do a search for C.M. Hoke’s book “ Refining Precious Metal Waste”. (upper right corner). Some of the guys on the forum have it in their signature line. It’s a free download. Read and study what she has to say. Read several threads on the forum. You do not want to jump in using chemicals that you don’t know how to use. Be safe, and good luck.

 

[qst42know]

Hello Matt

There is only one way without chemicals, disassemble, sort, and sell.

Aluminum, copper wire, and steel, go to the scrap yard. Mother boards, cards, CPUs, and ram, find buyers here on the forum. Some, but not all have found buyers for the plastic though in large lots.

Do some reading here and you will find how others are doing the very same thing.

 

[Photobacterium]

I was roaming around on youtube when I came across a video on how to get gold and other metals from phones, computers, old tv's, etc., etc.

That soon brought me to this website, but that is not the reason of this post. My question is, how do you do it? I'm not into the chemistry involved in doing it as I am only 16 but I am really in to computers I have around 6 laying around in my garage that are taking up space and building up dust, they aren't going to make money any other way. I was wondering if there are any video, tutorials, or post on any magnetic way to pull out the metals. I was reading about how you can blend them up and use some sort of magnetic pull for each metal but I have seen no tutorials on how to make such a thing. Another question I had is what is the best way to do it chemicals or mechanical?

If any one has a link to something I can learn from to make something to get the metals out with out using that many chemicals I would appreciate it. Also I know it will take time to learn and I know I'm not going to become rich off 6 computers, I understand that if I want to continue doing this I will have to find a way to get more computers. This thread is mainly to find a way to do it with out chemistry. (If you have anything posted somewhere on how did it with as little chemicals as possible, I would love to read it.)


Thanks,
Matt

You can do some separation using techniques that separate particles based on density.

http://www.mine.mn/Robin_Grayson_gold_recovery_method18.pdf

but if you look at the curve in that table, the particle size axes is labelled in microns. the curve cuts off at 50 microns.

if you were to shred & ball mill (and burn, depending on how you set up the experiment), you would end up with powders and gold particles on the order of 1 micron in size.

could it be separated using one of the mechanical separators ? (Gold genie spiral wheel, vibrating table). Maybe. My guess is that a table or jig
http://www.admmr.state.az.us/Publications/circ052jig.html

would work better for micro-fines than the Spiral Wheel.


One of the many interesting articles I've read about the history of gold mining described the troubles that the miner was having in procuring food for 120 Chinese slaves back in 1869.

Conceivably, if you had a bunch of slaves (and an adequate food supply) with microscopes, you could do some separation that way. Perhaps as much as a few milligrams.


Personally I like the idea of using the Swedish Ladies Bikini Team to do the non-chemical separation. One mine in Sweden has come close - the Bjorkdahl facility

http://www.goldoreresources.com/s/Bjorkdal.asp

They have recovered 1 million ounces of gold (from ore) using vibrator tables.

But their gold fines are different than what you would get from the e-scrap.

 

[kuma]

Hi GoldNoob , how are things ?
Welcome to the forum! :mrgreen:
As I live in a *flat* with my girlfriend and three children , I am unable to store and use chemicals , so I too was keen for a mechanical way to extract precious metals from electronic scrap.
Our good friend Patnor was kind enough to share with us on the forum his PDF outlining and detailing his method for extracting the tiny gold wires from the inside of small black chips , known as I.C.'s , without the need for chemicals.
It is easy to read and understand , and if I can follow it , anybody can! :lol:
The method that he describes does utilise red hot coals , and some toxic smoke and dust can and will be liberated , so even though the process doesn't require chemicals there are still some saftey hazards to be aware of , and make provisions for.

Patnors Guide to I.C.'s , discusion thread ;
http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=11827

Patnor101’s guide to How to process Black surface mount chips and Flatpacks. ( PDF download ) ;
http://tinyurl.com/7h5dfkn

Heres a link to a description of my own experiences while trying his method for the first time ;
http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=12572

Once you have extracted these tiny gold wires , they can be *cleaned* of other unwanted metals with some fairly basic chemistry , leaving you with a fairly clean and pure gold product , considering what you started with and the relativley small amount of work involved.
You may have noticed that I have kept using the word "extract" , this is because Patnor's method that I am talking about only extracts , or removes from other materials , the gold that you are after , and does not refine it.
It is during the refining stage that you will most deffinatly need to use chemicals ( at least for the refining processes that I have read about and studied here on the forum ) , and as long as you take your time and follow JimmyDoLittle's advice to download and study a copy of 'C. M. Hoke's book , you should do fine.

Heres a link to download a copy of 'Hoke's book ;
http://tinyurl.com/mfnyhs

Patnor's guide to I.C.'s is just one method of extracting gold from just one type of electronic scrap , there are many other options.
Once you have studied the forum for a while and have a good understanding of the different types of precious metal bearing scrap and the different processes that apply to each of them , you can begin to make your own decisions about which will work best for you.
If you are looking to try and make a profit aswell as some shiney buttons , as qst42know suggests it is also wise to seperate and save other parts of your computers to sell on, such as copper wires and such to your local scrap yard , and maybe working parts such as soundcards to sell on e-bay.

One last thing that I deffinatly recomend reading up on is the saftey section , this is above all the most important part! :idea:
http://tinyurl.com/6mzp7ou

I hope that this can be of some use to you ,
Take care and be safe!
All the very best with it and with kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:

(Edited to fix link)