Processing gold plated pins

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bswartzwelder

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
660
I had some gold plated pins from computer ribbon cables and was wondering why this wouldn't work. I don't see why, so I'll ask the experts. Take the pins and dissolve them in AR. They don't have solder on them so lead and tin should not present a problem. Then precipitate everything out of the solution that will drop using SMB. You should have gold and some other metals.

Next, take what has precipitated out and wash thoroughly to get rid of any remaining chemicals. There should be a fine powder consisting of various metals along with the gold. Put this powder in AP. That should dissolve the base metals leaving the gold behind. Anyone think this might work? It should even be possible to get rid of all the solder on similar pins using NaOH and H2O2. This is what happens when I have too much free time on my hands and I start thinking about processing escrap.
 
Yeah, too much time :)

I've never seen someone suggest using AR then moving onto AP!

Seriously, if you're going to try it, why not HCL, wash, Nitric? Then you should have your gold. No need to do HCL + Nitric (AR), wash, HCL + H2O2 (AP). Seems you'd be using more HCL and H2O2 than by just doing the standard process. But heck, if you're going to go this route and you're sure there isn't any tin or lead, why not just throw them in your stock pot!
 
Unless the pins are exceptional, the amount of solution created outweighs the benefits of dissolving everything at once.
 
I agree with Geo, unless they are very high grade it will create a lot of waste to deal with. I tired it on a small lot, won't be doing that again any time soon. If you want to try it though, use a very small lot and try it as an experiment. If the pins are from ribbon cables from computers, and nothing else, it may work o.k. in small batch's. IDE pins create way to much waste for me for to little gold when ran straight into AR.
 
If one was to dissolve everything in AR----it makes little sense to do anything more than a simple precipitation (or a cementation on copper), even though the solution would contain a high percentage of contamination. My logic tells me that to drag down copper makes no sense when it can be left behind without effort.

All in all, I'd say it's not a good idea.

Harold
 
Thanks to everyone. I knew it would be a losing proposition money wise as the cost of the chemicals would likely outweigh the value of the gold recovered. I was just wondering if it would work. At least I don't see where anyone else has tried it, probably for good reason.
 
I've got about 10 pounds of those pins accumulated and have guesstimated that they'll yield 1/4 gram or so per pound (that's probably generous).

I toss them in the stock pot whenever I notice that it's dissolved the last handful I threw in. That way there's no extra acid required to dissolve them.
 
bswartzwelder said:
Thanks to everyone. I knew it would be a losing proposition money wise as the cost of the chemicals would likely outweigh the value of the gold recovered. I was just wondering if it would work. At least I don't see where anyone else has tried it, probably for good reason.
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Go and check the posts of the newbies who have done exactly this and come here wanting a fix...
I thought you knew better than this!
Sorry but your going to read a lot more to understand why this is a real stupid idea.
 
Thanks, nickvc.

I usually read all newbie posts as well as their follow ups. I've seen where they put pins in AP as well as AR. But it seemed to me there may be a way to overcome some of the problems. What I was thinking of would be not to get rid of the base metals right away since a fully plated pin would not allow the chemicals to reach the metals underneath. I thought, in a roundabout way, that it would be easier to dissolve everything at once. Then instead of trying to selectively precipitate the gold, precipitate everything that would easily come out of the solution (gold included). Once that was done, it would have been an easy task to get rid of base metals using the AP. Hopefully, this would have left the gold to be dissolved as a powder which could have been processed easily by any of the normal more accepted means. Not trying to re-invent the wheel, just trying to run things down in a different direction.
 
What I did was to use 1/2 pound of sodium nitrate to 1/2 gallon Hydrochloric acid and 1/2 gallon water in a five gallon bucket, to 1/2 pound of IDE pins. The mess foamed up pretty bad but the bigger bucket contained it. Took a while but it dissolved everything. Dropped it using the normal method for SMB. Then treated the rest as normal waste solution and picked up a bit more gold powders. Looking back, about all I did was to create a typical waste solution. I could have followed a typical method of treating waste for the recovery, and gotten the same results, maybe a bit better by removing a step. If I did it again, I would just create the solution. Make sure the nitric was neutralized. Add copper and process the recovered dirty powders. All of that could be done easier by just adding the pins into the stockpot as mentioned, and recover any gold later. Unless you get chemicals cheap, take a look at the cost I ran into for that tiny bit of gold recovered, Roughly $4.17 for hydrochloric acid, $1.45 for sodium nitrate, (just rough guessing here) maybe $1.00 for sulfamic, then the copper came from scrap plumbing which was selling for $1.85 Lb at the time. I have to drive 12 miles to get hydrochloric acid, it is 21 miles to the nearest source of sodium nitrate, and 40 miles plus for the nearest sulfamic acid, in the opposite direction to boot. If I had been doing it as a paying job, I would have lost a nice chunk of cash, doing it for my self I didn't fair any better. Add to that the fact that I still had to process the recovered powders. My pins now go in the stockpot, and I worry about them when I clean it out, saves me excess cost and a lot of headaches. This is not meant to be a method to follow, it is meant to help explain some of the things we new people can get ourselves into, and why so many show up here needing help to clean up a mess.

It is always better to "look before leaping".

Edit: to add highlight
 
As stated before, I was just questioning whether it might work since it was a small change to the already known procedures. I also have quite a few pins which have solder on them. The thinking there was to process in NaOH and H2O2 to remove the solder and then throw them into the sulfuric cell. I'm still considering that since I already have everything on hand (except warm weather) to do that. These pins which never had any solder on them can go either one of two ways. Into the stock pot or into the sulfuric cell.

I do appreciate the responses. I have been on the forum long enough to have heard "Get rid of the base metals first." quite a few times.
 
bswartzwelder said:
I do appreciate the responses. I have been on the forum long enough to have heard "Get rid of the base metals first." quite a few times.
Click to expand...

Not always true with professional refineries where stripping is done using the nasty C but we refrain from promoting this process due to its dangers if not treated properly and with due respect.
The forum offers work arounds for the home and small refiner that can be safer if the processes are followed correctly and with full understanding.
 
bswartzwelder said:
As stated before, I was just questioning whether it might work since it was a small change to the already known procedures. I also have quite a few pins which have solder on them. The thinking there was to process in NaOH and H2O2 to remove the solder and then throw them into the sulfuric cell. I'm still considering that since I already have everything on hand (except warm weather) to do that. These pins which never had any solder on them can go either one of two ways. Into the stock pot or into the sulfuric cell.

I do appreciate the responses. I have been on the forum long enough to have heard "Get rid of the base metals first." quite a few times.
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to direct what I said at anyone in particular, and I realize you have been here quite a bit longer than myself. It was just meant to show how things can go wrong in more way's than just making a mess. There is also the cost factor that many can't seem to see before they start mixing up the chemicals. Maybe one day it will give cause for some new person to pause and think before jumping in neck deep before they are ready.
 
If you could get a steady supply of this type of pin, a stripping cell would be your best bet. There are a lot of creative concepts on the forum about it.
 
Thanks, Geo.

I was aware of the stripping cell. However, my experience with it was less than great. First off, only pins/items which have no solder should be used because the lead and tin eventually render the sulfuric acid useless. It would take a lifetime to remove the solder by snipping off the end of the pins.

In my experience, I believe I piled the pins a little too deep and only the pins on the top of the pile de-plated. Now, I know a thinner layer may work just fine, but it is time consuming and requires someone to be there watching things constantly. It's very easy and fast to dump everything into AR and then precipitate as much as can be precipitated (until the stannous shows no gold in solution). Then wash the resultant powder and eliminate base metals with AP.

I certainly want to steer clear of the "C" chemical. it looks like I'll use NaOH and H2O2 to remove the solder and then sssllllooowwwwlllyyy process all the pins in the cell.
 
Barren Realms 007 said:
necromancer said:
hobbies that payback are great. speed is not that important.

it's way better then mowing the lawn !
Click to expand...

Except mowing the lawn dosen't make you want to pull your hair out sometimes.
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true, but i don't think anyone here will help with the lawn :lol:
 
If I had a lot of pins to run, or even a lot of small parts, I would think about something like this with a small change to it.

http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=5092&hilit=sulfuric+tumbler
 
Hey Shark. I saw that rotating cell quite some time ago and was impressed with it. I have an old rotisserie motor that I could use to build one. The only problem I could see is that the holes on the inner bucket would really need to be tiny to keep the small pins from falling through. Thanks for the memory jog. I may even go that route at some time in the future.
 

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