Processing bga chips

[Mitch2580]

Hi guys as the title says this will be my first time processing anything and I have learned so much from this site it and the people on it are a wealth of knowledge so I'm going to put a link to a video that I'm going to be following to the letter in about 3 weeks if someone can watch it and get back to me if its 100% the right way as I hold the opinions of members here very high

http://youtu.be/sXyvpICimmo

Kind regards
Mitch

 

[Mitch2580]

Hi guys

I'm guessing by the high number of viewers of this post and no replies that people just don't have the time to watch the hour + long video and I completely understand
Thank you for taking the time to look

Kind regards
Mitch

 

[kernels]

Hi Mitch,

That process pretty much aligns with the standard practice for that type of material on this forum. General issues I've had are:

Make sure you don't burn through the metal container when you do the initial pyrolization and end up with all your chips in the fire.

Shaking the chips in a can leaves you with longer (more visible) bond wires and internal gold plated wires that are nice to see like you can see in that video, smashing the chips up in other ways leads to smaller particles, the gold is still there, but not as easy to see.

Make sure you remove all the tin beforehand by heating the chips in concentrated HCl

Be careful that you don't lose gold when initially washing the powder, but do try to minimize your material before moving onto using acids. The lower volume you can get your material, the less acid you will use and the less waste you will create. Panning the material with a gold pan works well, but if you are not experienced in this, then just washing as per the video will work reasonably well.

You will find with any youtube video than minor details can be left out because they seem natural to the person doing it for the tenth time, so when you get stuck and am not sure what to do, ask a question here!

Good Luck and most of all, BE SAFE

 

[kernels]

Here is a long thread that also covers the same process:

http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=11827

The nice thing about BGA chips in general is that they do not have any/many magnetic parts that have to separated out. That thread deals with regular chips with 'legs', but similar process.

 

[Mitch2580]

Here is a long thread that also covers the same process:

http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=11827

The nice thing about BGA chips in general is that they do not have any/many magnetic parts that have to separated out. That thread deals with regular chips with 'legs', but similar process.

Hi kernels
Thank you for the reply and the advice I really appreciate it and I will ask if I get stuck on anything I'm going to use coal and a cast iron pot like PATNOR and put some holes in the lid

Kind regards
Mitch

 

[Mitch2580]

Sorry I also should of explained I'm doing gold corner bga I think they called north-south
So as I understand that there is no tin legs


Mitch

 

[kernels]

That's great, those chips should return even better results than the RAM chips in the video. Did you break the black tops off the green bases ? I think that is pretty standard practice, but I've never tried those myself. Not sure what happens when you burn the green bases (fibreglass)

 

[jason_recliner]

I'm guessing by the high number of viewers of this post and no replies that people just don't have the time to watch the hour + long video and I completely understand

Pretty much. I started skipping through bits of it but no one in their right mind will sign off on something without watching the lot. As I said earlier, there's nothing that's not well covered in Patnor's document.
The more time you spend in physical separation and base metal removal, the better. Of course that goes for ALL recovery.

I think they called north-south

Yes, those are them. I think Pat refers to them as S/N chips, which confused me at first but is obviously the same thing once I realised what he meant. Of course, they're all upside down in that half of the planet. :mrgreen:

 

[jason_recliner]

That's great, those chips should return even better results than the RAM chips in the video. Did you break the black tops off the green bases ? I think that is pretty standard practice, but I've never tried those myself. Not sure what happens when you burn the green bases (fibreglass)

I've tried that. It's a mess.
They are difficult to incinerate cleanly and completely. They have very little gold compared to the black chip.
Just break them off, toss them in AP and forget them for a while.

 

[kernels]

That's great, those chips should return even better results than the RAM chips in the video. Did you break the black tops off the green bases ? I think that is pretty standard practice, but I've never tried those myself. Not sure what happens when you burn the green bases (fibreglass)

I've tried that. It's a mess.
They are difficult to incinerate cleanly and completely. They have very little gold compared to the black chip.
Just break them off, toss them in AP and forget them for a while.

Yep, that's pretty much my plan one day when I have enough of them gathered up. I've heard Chinese whispers that those N/S black tops are good for up to 10g/kg. So work carefully and methodically! You don't want to lose any of those!

 

[Mitch2580]

I'm guessing by the high number of viewers of this post and no replies that people just don't have the time to watch the hour + long video and I completely understand

Pretty much. I started skipping through bits of it but no one in their right mind will sign off on something without watching the lot. As I said earlier, there's nothing that's not well covered in Patnor's document.
The more time you spend in physical separation and base metal removal, the better. Of course that goes for ALL recovery.

I think they called north-south

Yes, those are them. I think Pat refers to them as S/N chips, which confused me at first but is obviously the same thing. Of course, they're all upside down in that half of the planet. :mrgreen:

Haha so true but I love our upside down brothers

I have separated the green fibre from black tops and my plan was to soak in AP with a bubbler for a few weeks

 

[Mitch2580]

That's great, those chips should return even better results than the RAM chips in the video. Did you break the black tops off the green bases ? I think that is pretty standard practice, but I've never tried those myself. Not sure what happens when you burn the green bases (fibreglass)

I've tried that. It's a mess.
They are difficult to incinerate cleanly and completely. They have very little gold compared to the black chip.
Just break them off, toss them in AP and forget them for a while.

Yep, that's pretty much my plan one day when I have enough of them gathered up. I've heard Chinese whispers that those N/S black tops are good for up to 10g/kg. So work carefully and methodically! You don't want to lose any of those!

Wow 10gms a kg I will be happy with 5 for my first time and I've got 2kgs to do I will document it with photos and post my journey on here I don't know if the experienced will want to know but maybe they can creatique my method

As I don't think I could ever learn everything that this hobby requires

Kind regards
Mitch

 

[jason_recliner]

my plan was to soak in AP with a bubbler for a few weeks

I'm not sure they're even worth the 8c/day for aquarium pump electricity. Maybe if you have a squillion of them. Otherwise I'd toss them in and forget them.

 

[Mitch2580]

my plan was to soak in AP with a bubbler for a few weeks

I'm not sure they're even worth the 8c/day for aquarium pump electricity. Maybe if you have a squillion of them. Otherwise I'd toss them in and forget them.

Ok I'll keep that in mind I think I'm about to buy 10pounds of the N-S chips of a member for $800 including freight is that a good deal ?

 

[kernels]

my plan was to soak in AP with a bubbler for a few weeks

I'm not sure they're even worth the 8c/day for aquarium pump electricity. Maybe if you have a squillion of them. Otherwise I'd toss them in and forget them.

Ok I'll keep that in mind I think I'm about to buy 10pounds of the N-S chips of a member for $800 including freight is that a good deal ?

800 USD or AUD ?

 

[jason_recliner]

my plan was to soak in AP with a bubbler for a few weeks

I'm not sure they're even worth the 8c/day for aquarium pump electricity. Maybe if you have a squillion of them. Otherwise I'd toss them in and forget them.

Ok I'll keep that in mind I think I'm about to buy 10pounds of the N-S chips of a member for $800 including freight is that a good deal ?

Without knowing who that member is, nor making any comment on the soundness or prudence of any deal, my advice to ANYONE would be to develop your own technique and find your yield figures before laying out some pretty serious coin on bulk material.

Once you have your own yield values, you wouldn't need to ask the question.

 

[Mitch2580]

my plan was to soak in AP with a bubbler for a few weeks

I'm not sure they're even worth the 8c/day for aquarium pump electricity. Maybe if you have a squillion of them. Otherwise I'd toss them in and forget them.

Ok I'll keep that in mind I think I'm about to buy 10pounds of the N-S chips of a member for $800 including freight is that a good deal ?

Without knowing who that member is, nor making any comment on the soundness or prudence of any deal, my advice to ANYONE would be to develop your own technique and find your yield figures before laying out some pretty serious coin on bulk material.

Once you have your own yield values, you wouldn't need to ask the question.

You are right that's not a question I should be asking on an open forum and I think I'll do this 2kgs b4 I buy anything

 

[kernels]

Good idea, the reward is reasonable, but you will be surprised at how much work will be involved in processing 2kg.

 

[Mitch2580]

Good idea, the reward is reasonable, but you will be surprised at how much work will be involved in processing 2kg.

That's why I love this forum so much common sense and knowledge. well my next post should be my photos and out come of my process
Once again thank you guys for everything

Kind regards

Mitch

 

[upcyclist]

my advice to ANYONE would be to develop your own technique and find your yield figures before laying out some pretty serious coin on bulk material.

Once you have your own yield values, you wouldn't need to ask the question.

DING DING DING! Give that man a prize! :G