How to process these gold coved cards?

[PostOak]

Hi everyone,

It's funny how tangents work!?! I searched Google on a way to remove the solder mask off PCB's, when I stumbled across lazersteve's video on just the very topic. I followed his directions and it worked like a charm. This got me to thinking about what other useful info might be here. I'm intrigued by the resourcefulness of other people in these economic times. I thought I'd give gold recovery and refining a try. I have about 350 of these gold plated cards I found.



After being trimmed down, each section measures 3.5" x 2.25" x0.010". These things are thin and stick together easily. 100 of the smaller, trimmed sections weigh right at 350 grams. After reading tons(well, what seems like tons to me :shock: ), I thought AP would be the proper method to recover the foils. But, there is SO much info this forum, it can get confusing. Most of the info talks about recovering foils from RAM sticks and computer cards. I have some questions:

1) Should I cut the trimmed sections up even smaller? They currently stick together like new dollar bills from the bank.
2) How many (or much, weight wise) should I process in my first trial?
3) What ratio of HCL to H2O2 should I go with? I've read 2:1, 3:1, 4:1. OR, do I add enough HCL to cover the cards (as I call them) and then add the peroxide until I get a reaction, and then stop? I did buy an aquarium air pump and a 4" air stone disc, but I don't know if I'll need it for the first batch?
I know there isn't a set outline to follow, and most of the experience comes from trial and error/time/and experimentation. I would just rather not jump in blindly, if I can help it. I take constructive criticism well.

Thanks for your time and comments.

 

[bswartzwelder]

Sit back and do a lot more reading. You've been a member for only a day or two and you're not ready to start processing quite yet. If you had done as much reading as you say, the answers to your questions would have been found. Use the search engine. It's your friend. You have found the best method to recover the foils, and have even found the need to aerate your solution. I don't know if the air stone will work. I don't know of anybody who uses one.

Put everything away except your reading material for now. That will ensure that you don't lose any values.

Download a copy of Hoke's book and study it from cover to cover. When you think you understand the processes, read it over again. We are working with dangerous chemicals and the various processes give off some pretty nasty and toxic fumes. ALWAYS work outdoors or under a fume hood for safety reasons. Almost every member who has been a member will tell the newbies to sit back and read. We are not being nasty, but most every question that may come to your head has been asked and answered numerous times right here on the forum.

Once we see that you are willing to put forth the effort to learn for yourself, we will be glad to help you. I know that quite some time ago I posted a detailed description of how I made my AP setup. I am still using it to this day.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[PostOak]

Waiting for Hoke's book to arrive. I dislike reading long PDF things. Besides, I can write notes in the sides of the pages, and bookmark references.

Just bare with me. . .

 

[Lino1406]

You can be amazed by how little gold is contained in 350 pieces

 

[the iron dwarf]

you dont need to read the download on the screen, print it out instead, use it as a working copy to prevent marking the expensive real book.

also the downloads have old dangerous methods warned against and other changes since the original was written all those years ago, then mercury, cyanide and asbestos was in common usage

 

[FrugalRefiner]

You'll find the versions iron dwarf has mentioned in my signature line.

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

You can be amazed by how little gold is contained in 350 pieces

Yep.. Tell me about it! I had material and swore I was going to get a nice chunk of gold out of it and it was quite the opposite. Now I only expect the bare minimum, especially when I don't know the history of that item I'm trying to refine.

Kevin

 

[solar_plasma]

Looks like some kind of touch pads to me. Sometimes those are very shiny, which is a sign, there is not much gold. But yours do have a nice color, just like ram fingers.

Once you have read and learned the basics like already advised, you would want to focus on reading and learning CuCl2 leaching. Then you will want to start with a small batch like maybe 20 of those and use the same solution over and over again, only using aeration and adding small amounts HCl, when necessary.