Need a hobby? Gold from Printed Circuits

[Newventurer]

Don’t even know how I came across this but I found it interesting enough to watch the whole thing

 

[aja8888]

Don’t even know how I came across this but I found it interesting enough to watch the whole thing

All that work for $38 + or - worth of gold (1.0 gram), less assay charges. That is also not deducting the cost of the circuit board fingers.

But fun, anyway!

 

[marko]

All that work for $38 + or - worth of gold (1.0 gram), less assay charges. That is also not deducting the cost of the circuit board fingers.

One would be better off rummaging through neighbor's trash barrels for the deposit on soda cans.

 

[aja8888]

One would be better off rummaging through neighbor's trash barrels for the deposit on soda cans.

Exactly. A $10 can crusher (up front cost) and no assay costs (back end cost) when selling the aluminum.

 

[sengsational]

Seems like these "fingers" could have more or less weight, depending on how closely they're trimmed, so the calculated yield might be quite variable.

It seems like whoever the "trimmer" is should probably or maybe would probably extract the gold themselves, but instead, they make more money selling the fingers, and I can see why....All that specialized equipment, purchased supplies, time....totally only worth it if you're doing it "for fun".

 

[USGrant1962]

As a chemical engineer, it does kind of look like fun. But I think I'd rather resume beer making - that seems to have a better return on investment!

 

[sengsational]

Yeah, and if you spill a little beer on yourself, you'll just smell funny instead of getting a chemical burn.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

As a chemical engineer, it does kind of look like fun. But I think I'd rather resume beer making - that seems to have a better return on investment!

I'm with you. Buying grains and hops in bulk, harvesting yeast, kegging...I can make a Sierra Nevada Celebration clone for under 40 cents per 12 ounce drink.

 

[aja8888]

I remember hearing of a couple of guys doing just this in bulk with spent circuit boards in a rented garage shop in L.A. in the 1980's. I believe they were using nitric acid instead. They were dumping the spent acid into the L.A. sewer system and got caught. Jail time after that.

 

[sengsational]

I'm with you. Buying grains and hops in bulk, harvesting yeast, kegging...I can make a Sierra Nevada Celebration clone for under 40 cents per 12 ounce drink.

I like to clone something like Duvel since it's really expensive ($5/330ml). The good (and bad) thing is, I've never got it "perfect" so need to keep trying

 

[Texas Proud]

Just wondering why someone could not just burn the crap out of the board and it go up in smoke? Leaving all the metal behind... I am sure there is some way to separate out the various metals...

 

[Newventurer]

‘Burning the plastic-metal mix in printed circuit boards releases toxic compounds such as dioxins and furans’

More toxic than the chemicals used??

 

[HFWR]

After 32 years in semiconductors, I no longer play in the dangerous chemicals, but do sometimes dabble in recreational ones...

 

[aja8888]

Just wondering why someone could not just burn the crap out of the board and it go up in smoke? Leaving all the metal behind... I am sure there is some way to separate out the various metals...

If you want the separation and purity you have to use chemicals. Otherwise, you end up with a metal blob with all kinds of compounds in it. Refining is a precise chemical process.

 

[Texas Proud]

If you want the separation and purity you have to use chemicals. Otherwise, you end up with a metal blob with all kinds of compounds in it. Refining is a precise chemical process.

Just wondering... and will give 2 examples....


When the World Trade Center came down there was a large amount of gold in the basement (do know know who had it)... but some of the reporting I remember talked about them recovering most of it even though it was melted by the fire... so it did not seem to be a big metal blob (could be wrong on this)...


Next, I have watched Gold Rush and they have all this gold that they melt with something added and in the end get rid of the impurities.... just knock the slag off the gold bar..... but it was not like the video shown to get the gold...