Recover Gold From Computer Scrap with Salt & Vinegar - VIDEO

[kadriver]

Here is my latest try at using milder chemicals to recover gold from computer scrap.

Many thanks to deltaH and aga from sciencemadness.org for the help they provided with this experiment!

This is part 1 of 3:

https://youtu.be/ouYW_7-Njbs

Comments and critique welcomed.

kadriver
Edited to change to 3 part video instead of a 2 part video

 

[jason_recliner]

I love your instructional videos.

The only thing I would point out is that while the starting chemicals might be less harmful, kitchen grade material; you still are making hydrochloric acid, albeit weaker than you buy from the hardware store.
Once the acid has taken on the metals, I am guessing, pure speculation, that the resulting leach is just as toxic as if you had used HCl to begin with.

 

[solar_plasma]

that the resulting leach is just as toxic as if you had used HCl to begin with.

correct.

 

[kadriver]

Good point about the chemicals still being toxic.

Here is part 2 of 3

https://youtu.be/TUxJ0YhATxM

kadriver

 

[jason_recliner]

I have a couple of critiques, only since you invited them, but they are intended positively. I don't want to put you off at all.

• You seem to move your product around a lot. I lost count of how many times you moved foils from one container to another. At one point your batch was split into three separate containers: Foils on the fingers, foils in the sieve, and finer foils through the sieve. Every time you move it, you can lose a bit.
• Extension of above point, consider decanting wherever possible instead of filtering. It's possible to leave your foils in the one container until you filter it before precipitation.
• If you can remove the fingers from the foils & solution, rather than try to remove the foils from the fingers, all your foils will be left behind. That's the idea behind putting fingers in a smaller, inside, colander-like container full of holes; so that the foils will sink to the bottom and the fingers remain. You can rinse the fingers using the leach, back into the leach. Decant that and you have foils.
• You're making a lot of toxic waste, IMHO, for the gain of foils. It looks like you had up to 5 litres of cyan waste there. The more solution you can decant before you rinse under the tap, the less waste you need deal with later.

I chose sea salt for its lack of contaminants but regular uniodized table salt will probably work also

I tend to think you're probably better off with plain salt. You know what's in it. Where I shop, "natural" sea salt et al advertise all sort of things. I've even seen one product sell "organic Himalayan salt". How an inorganic rock salt, which kills just about any living thing, can be organic; it is beyond me. But it does have "83 minerals beneficial to health". What they are, or why they are beneficial, no one can tell you. Buddhammonium hydroxide for all I know. But it's pink. And that's the main thing.

 

[TBarrow]

Love all the videos! Great job kadriver.

Nice 1911 in the closing scene of the third part.