So I'm starting out...

[pudi.dk]

So I decided I wanted to try recovering some amount of gold from the gold-containing scrap I could find.
What I have accumulated over the past months is not a lot, but I have not been able to come across more than this. This was basically a matter of searching high and low in the old electronics I could find.
What I understand is that different types of scrap require different methods of recovering, I watched some of the videos on goldrecovery.us to get an idea of these. But one thing I have to factor in is that I'm working with small amounts of scrap, and that it's probably gonna take way to much effort if I'd have to start a whole new process for each type of scrap that I have. So my question is how could I most effectively process my tiny pile scrap? For example, should I process all PCBs together with the fingers, should I process pins along with CPUs and plastic encased pins, or should I simply throw all I have accumulated in a bucket and dissolve in acids etc.

To give you an idea of what I'm working with here's the number and a pic:
166g Fingers
723g PCBs (some still have some pins in)
260g Pins
149g Fiber CPUs
92g Ceramic CPUs
65g plastic encased pins
72g small pins
11g misc. plated scrap
A ring and a chain, unknown karat and whether plated or not.

Something I should also mention is that this might be a one-time experiment for me, so constructing a ton of equipment might be efficient, but if I'm only gonna use it once this might cost me several times of what the recovered gold is worth (not counting the extremely time-consuming and painful process of getting the gold-containing parts from the electronics) :lol: )

Thanks in advance!
- Nic

PS anyone know how much gold I should expect from this?

 

[Smack]

Keep doing what your doing (collecting & sorting) and keep everything separate. Looks good so far. While your not out collecting look for topics here that cover every type of material that you have collected so far. You've been a member longer than me so you have probably seen some of the posts. Make notes while your reading. Grab the phone book and start calling businesses and ask if they have any electronic waste they want to get rid of. You could get 2 places for every 20 you call and it should be free less your gas.

 

[pudi.dk]

Thing is, I'm doing this for proof of concept. So while it may or may not be possible to buy scrap with gold in my area, in the end I want to hold a bead of gold in my hands saying "look what I made from stuff I found around for free" (free - well the chemicals are not but still)
It's weird, I know :lol:

 

[kuma]

Hi all , how are tricks?
I hope all is well! :mrgreen:

in the end I want to hold a bead of gold in my hands saying "look what I made from stuff I found around for free" .... It's weird, I know :lol:

Pudi , it's not weired , it's very cool! 8) :lol:
All the best and kind regards ,
Chris

 

[element47]

So my question is how could I most effectively process my tiny pile scrap? For example, should I process all PCBs together with the fingers, should I process pins along with CPUs and plastic encased pins, or should I simply throw all I have accumulated in a bucket and dissolve in acids etc.

This is the temptation among the impatient, but the idea that you can, by fiat, by wish, make these materials behave as you would prefer they behave (while everyone else with vastly more experience separates them and treats them differently) and furthermore make them act the same (even though they are different) because you don't have enough of any one (yet) to produce any appreciable weight of values is.....so far beyond ridiculous that you can't even catch a bus back to ridiculous. So it is good that you haven't done that!

Sad to say, almost everything in refining is a flat out pain in the rear end, except for that gleaming little bead you may (or may not) produce at the end. It's not like it is physically difficult work, but it is tedious, sometimes dangerous work. Nobody would spend the money on chemicals nor safety gear or even cheap stuff like filter paper if they didn't have to. The work appeals to those with very, very linear and procedural minds who like things laid out in a predictable progression. Not everybody's mind works like that. And the great majority of folks, I would guess, simply can not gather enough material to make the *essential* investment in glassware and safety gear that, who knows, you may never use again, worthwhile.

There's really nothing to "prove". All this CAN be done, and many do it, using procedures that are laid out here. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to read the daylights out of the materials and posts on the forum and copy them religiously. That includes the material procurement, the chemical procurement, the safety precautions, both for yourself and your surroundings, the equipment prep, and the underlying knowledge of the chemistry, to some extent. There are very, very few successful inventor-refiners. The success stories come from following the known procedures with annoying and relentless precision.

I like the kadriver story, I encourage you to search for his posts. A year or so ago, he was a noob. Now, he produces gorgeous silver bars. But he has obsessive, fanatical attention to detail and procedure, and he is kind enough to to document and share it.