Pentium 1 Ceramic CPU yeild - 0.06 grams, 22K per piece

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plamenppp

plamenppp

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Messages
203
Since I have found this forum I've been collecting as many cpus as I could. A few days ago I decided that I should extract some gold from 30 ceramic Pentium 1 cpus. The process worked fine and I dropped the gold with PMB (P for potasium). After a nice melting with just a regular burner I had a nice shiny gold button. Today I went to a goldsmith and he measured it. It was 1.77 grams and according to him it is around 22k.

The cpus were mixed I admit. Some were with MMX technology and the frequency was 75, 100 and son MHz. The yeild should be considered as average for this kind of cpus.

I suppose I have some losses.

I suppose there is gold in the solder between the two ceramic lids but I haven't processed them yet.

So, 1.77 grams / 30 = 0.059 (0.06) grams per piece.

P.S. Now in the glass dish there are 22 486 cpus (mixed again). Expect the data ASAP.
 

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That sounded a bit low to me,especially if you take into consideration that it tested around 22k.
So I went back and looked at your pictures.In the picture with the cpus in the beaker,it appears as though the cap on the bottom of the chip was not removed.Is this true?
If so then you have 2 problems:1 is that you did not reach a pretty fair amount of gold underneath,2 is that you may have still had other metals being dissolved into solution,which can wreak havoc on what you were doing.
Lets start with this.Did you remove the caps on the bottom?
IF YOU DID:then can you check the cavity to make sure it is completely void,those chips have an excess of solder holding that cap on and covering some of the gold plating inside.
IF YOU DID NOT:then you need to remove what is left and process again to remove any gold left behind.Also make sure to sheck your spent solution from the first batch as some gold may have been precipitated out due to the other metals still being digested.
All in all you should have yielded about 1.5grams per pound of those cpus.You processed exactly 2 pounds,so your result should have been almost double.
And there is no gold content in the solder if this chip.
Johnny
 
I processed them with broken bottom lids - all of them. But there is till some undissolved solder. I intent to process it later as I run out of muriatic acid.
 

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Yes, some of the silicon chips are still there, but around them there is nothing.
 
Well, an extra AR bath will be required. Therefore I throw away noting.

The job with the 486es is going on well. They needed two bats of AR. The second bath destroyed the gold plated lids completely and the first one ate only the metal between the two platings. I expect more gold this time.
 
plamenppp said:
Well, an extra AR bath will be required. Therefore I throw away noting.

The job with the 486es is going on well. They needed two bats of AR. The second bath destroyed the gold plated lids completely and the first one ate only the metal between the two platings. I expect more gold this time.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to question your process but why are you using AR to dissolve everything at one time? You are creating problems for yourself that are not necessary.

Why not go with:
HCL
HCL/Peroxide
Nitric

With these you always keep an eye on your gold.
 
When I drop it and collect it, I will rinse it with HNO3. Maybe, I will worm it a little bit as rinsing. It should work fine. The gold will be a mud and will not be eaten, but everything else will be. Wait until tomorrow.
 
qst42know said:
Find Harold's' wash procedures here on the forum.

Don't use nitric or you risk re-dissolving your gold.
Click to expand...

Re-dissolving the gold with nitric acid? Is it possible?
 
Yes, some of the silicon chips are still there, but around them there is nothing.
Click to expand...
Yes there is gold under those chips,however it is not a significant enough of an amount to explain the size of your button.Since you still have undissolved solder on the chips then most likely some gold was self-precipitated from the saturation of base metals in the solution.
If you have any residual chloride metal salts remaining and you haven't incinerated the material to destroy them, then yes.
Click to expand...
I found this out years ago and it cost me a lot of gold.Never mix a chloride with a nitrate without fully washing or incinerating the material first,otherwise you risk making AR.
Johnny
 
Today I melted the gold from 21 486s (mixed) and now I have a nice shiny button. It is bigger than the last one which was 1.77 grams.
Today is Eastern day and nobody works. I will weigh it tomorrow.
 
plamenppp said:
Today I melted the gold from 21 486s (mixed) and now I have a nice shiny button. It is bigger than the last one which was 1.77 grams.
Today is Easter day and nobody works. I will weigh it tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Good going on the button.

Not working today, ROFL 8) I guess that is why I have been playing trying to get my lawn mower working for the last 3 hrs. %&$@#*&%()))@# :evil:
 
once i 've had the idea to remove by heating about a dozen of CPU's taps and scratch the very thin golden wires inside beneath a magnifier glass. it results a nice golden wool ball that makes me belive it was the most significant ammount of gold from entire CPU. is that right ? i have found also white wires between the silicon chip and the ceramic part. what was that? silver? sorry for such anoying questions, by that time i wasn't interested i was just curious. thanks for any answer !
 
The risk in going straight AR is in not waiting long enough for your values to come down. These complex base metal solutions can sometimes take days to settle. And in a very fine form, quite easy to miss. I hope you are keeping a stock pot as some of your values will be found here.
 

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