Is this worth processing

[gobot]

I want to try my first leach on e-scrap. Is this enough or do I need to wait until I get more?

 

[jimdoc]

Wait until you get more and keep studying, so you get it right.

Jim

 

[NobleMetalWorks]

You have a mixture of things there, fingerboards that need to be broken off, fiber CPUs that you need to process differently to get the gold pins off than you do ceramic CPU's, you have transitional CPU's that have iron in the pins that are processed totally different than the other gold plated materials, cards that have finger boards that need to be removed, and the flatpacks are a totally different story. And even with the ceramic CPUs you would probably want to remove the heat spread and process those in a sulfuric cell.

What JimDoc said is right. If you understood how each of those items in your picture needed to be processed, before recovering the Au or refining it, you wouldn't need to ask the question. Not that there is any issue with you asking, but just because you have raises a red flag that you need to learn more before you even attempt to process anything for gold content.

The smartest thing you have done is to find this forum. The next intelligent thing you need to do is learn before you even attempt to try anything. You should read C. M. Hoke "refining precious metal waste" Once you have, you will have a really good basic understanding, and you will know the terms used so that when you have a problem, you can post on this forum in a way other people will understand what you are describing or talking about. You also might want to read up on the different processes. There are several, and some are better for some types of material than others. You don't use the same process for everything. There are also different ways to strip material, to remove other base metals that will cause you issues later in your process, so that you save yourself time, effort, money and energy.

I don't think you were looking for a long winded answer, but your question begs for clarification so you don't repeat the same mistakes that are commonly posted on this board by people who are just starting to learn about refining precious metals.

Oh yeah, and welcome. :mrgreen:

Scott

 

[gobot]

My picture may have been misleading so just to clear things up I wasn't going to just dump this stuff in solution. I have not read Hoke yet but have read another how-to manual on the process of prepping and leaching e-scrap so I'm not putting the cart before the horse. I'm not trying to sound like I know what I'm doing either because I probably don't. I'm just eager to give it a try. I have the basic chemicals and glassware required for this project but wanted to know if I should try it on the small amount that I showed in the picture. I really do appreciate the advice jimdoc and SBrown. I will read Hoke and try to acquire more scrap material in the meantime.

 

[nickvc]

Keep that enthuasiasm going but direct it towards reading and learning while you collect more scrap to work on, the guys are giving you good advice. When you refine small lots losses are inevitable especially when you first start, these losses are recoverable at some point if you follow the correct procedures which brings us back to reading. Were not trying to deter you from following your desire to learn the secrets of refining but actively pushing you in the right direction to be able to do it correctly and safely, a phrase I use often is "your gold going nowhere unless you throw it out " so keep aquiring scrap while you beef up your learning.
Welcome to the forum.

 

[element47.5]

One of the things you will learn upon further study is "expected yield". We can not tell if what you have shown in your pix is all you have or is representative of much larger amounts of the different materials. Take the finger boards you've shown, for example. Those are typically processed by what's known around here as the "acid peroxide" method. This process dissolves the copper *under* the gold-plated fingers and lets the gold foils float off. You show 5 of them. Steve's A-P video shows him processing several hundreds of them, and from those several hundred, with his well-practiced technique, his yield is like 5 grams of gold if my recollection is correct. From 5 such foils, your yield may scarcely be detectable and more likely, will completely escape you. That's assuming no goofs. It's phenomenally common to see that gold, the mental wheels start turning, and next thing you know you're mixing chemicals and trying to recover gold you can plainly see. But those five cards might yield an amount of gold about the size of a small grain of sand. The gold on those fingers is amazingly thin. So...keep gathering, keep studying Hoke. Unless you are talking microscopic-level amounts of metal, it takes a considerable amount to e-scrap to recover any kind of meaningful amount of gold from this stuff. You're getting the right advice.

And by the way...a great many people elect to simply sell such materials to others; either on ebay where other newbs might very well overpay for them, or, to actual refiners. That includes me...I simply cannot see myself engaging in the effort to gather enough of this material to make the acquisiton of chemicals and glassware and safety gear and the place to carry out the work worth it. The best example of this is unquestionably the guy who buys junk jewelry and sells it to a refiner. IMHO, the gatherer guy makes well over 85% of the profit in that arrangement and never touches a chemical.

 

[mls26cwru]

these guys are right, study up on this forum more. Read houke and also find out what processes are easier than others. Start with the easy stuff and work your way up. The amount of stuff you pictured not enough to material to make it worth your time and the amount of gold is so small it could easily be lost in a number of ways in the recovery process. To give you an idea, there is roughly 2 grams of gold per pound of gold fingers... and you probably have less than an ounce of gold fingers, so we are talking about .05 grams of gold.

find some more material and read up some more about the processes, chemicals, and methods used, that IS the best way to start out...

and as a newbie, best bit of advice i can give you is be wary of EBay sellers... most stuff there is WELL overpriced, so becareful.

 

[philddreamer]

...but have read another how-to manual on the process of prepping and leaching e-scrap so I'm not putting the cart before the horse.

Gobot, I hope that "other how-to manual" is not shor. If it is, and you follow it, expect a big and unpleasent surprise... :roll:
Follow the expert advice given to you!
Take care and be safe!
Phil