josh,
Welcome to the forum. Everything you need to know to recover and refine precious metals can be found here on the forum, but it takes a lot of study. Different items of your computer scrap require different procedures. There is no one-process-fits-all solution.
The first rule is to be safe in everything you do. Before you jump into any of the processes you see discussed here, be sure you understand the potential hazards and do everything you can to minimize the risks. Read EVERYTHING in the
Safety section of the forum, especially the Dealing with Waste topic. No amount of precious metal is worth jeopardizing your health or the health of those around you.
I strongly encourage all new members to follow the
Guided Tour created by LazerSteve. It will provide an introduction to the forum and numerous valuable links including the General Reactions List. Be sure to follow the link to his web site as he has many outstanding videos, a collection of great reference documents, and he sells a lot of the supplies needed to get started including detailed instructional DVDs. Samuel-a also has a lot of videos, guides and tutorials at his web site
Gold-N-Scrap.
Download C. M. Hoke's book. There is a digital copy you can read on screen here:
Refining Precious Metal Wastes. If you prefer a printed copy, you'll find a link to a printer friendly version in my signature line below. You'll see her book mentioned repeatedly here on the forum for good reason. It is probably the best book ever written for the beginner who wants to learn refining. It is written in layman's terms and will provide a solid foundation that will help you understand everything you read here on the forum. You'll also find a tremendous amount of information in the two Forum Handbooks compiled by aflacglobal,
Forum Handbook Vol 1 and
Forum Handbook Vol 2.
Once you understand the basics you can start to try some small scale experiments. If there's something you don't understand or you get stuck, there will be someone here to help you.
Best of luck,
Dave
