Food
Living
Outside
Play
Technology
Workshop
How To Extract Gold From Electronics by ProjectPlace on August 11, 2014
Table of Contents How To Extract Gold From Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
Intro: How To Extract Gold From Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
Step 1: WARNING: Hazardous Chemicals Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
Step 2: Acquire Apparatus, Chemicals, Materials And Safety Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Step 3: Prepare Electronics For Gold Extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
Step 4: Clean Off PCBs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Step 5: Create Your Etching Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Step 6: Wait For It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
Step 7: Extract The Gold Foils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9
Step 8: Filter Out Gold Foils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Step 9: Remove The Gold Foils Sticking To The Coffee Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Step 10: Enjoy The Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Author:ProjectPlace Hi. I'm Jacob, a high school student obsessed with science and math. I love to build many different sorts of contraptions and perform experiments on topics that interest me. I hope my project tutorials help you to learn about and build cool contraptions and perform neat experiments at home. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., please message me. I love to incorporate your suggestions. Thank you so much for visiting my page. Keep on inventing, Jacob
Intro: How To Extract Gold From Electronics In this Instructable, I will show you how to extract gold from computers using products most people have lying around in their homes. The way I extract the gold is relatively straight-forward and pretty easy. Also, please remember if you like this Instructable, please vote for me. I work very hard and spend a lot of time to make these Instructables. It would truly mean a lot. Thanks and Enjoy!
Step 1: WARNING: Hazardous Chemicals Used Although this method of gold extraction calls for household chemicals, that doesn't mean they are safe. Please be advised that you must handle these chemicals with care. Goggles, gloves, glass apparatus and a very well ventilated room with a fume hood (and a gas mask/respirator are needed as well) or an outside area is highly recommended. I am not responsible for any injuries associated with the performance of this Instructable. If you have any question regarding the safety of this experiment, please ask me through comments or a PM before performing any of this experiment.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Step 2: Acquire Apparatus, Chemicals, Materials And Safety Equipment Safety first: 1) Goggles 2) Rubber Gloves 3) Gas Mask/Respirator (not needed if performing outside) 4) A Well Ventilated Area (outside or in a room with a fume hood) Now for the apparatus: 1) One Glass Beaker (thick plastic cups should suffice, but glass is better). Styrofoam and paper will not work. 2) Coffee Filter 3) Scissors 4) Two Plastic Cups And last but not least, the chemicals: 1) Toilet Bowl Cleaner (must contain hydrochloric acid). If you have lab grade hydrochloric acid, by all means use it. Can be found at Home Depot, most home improvement stores and plumbing supply stores. HAZARDOUS; do not ingest or get in eyes and mucous membranes. 2) Hydrogen Peroxide. Can be found at CVS pharmacy as it is used as an antiseptic. HAZARDOUS; do not ingest or get in eyes and mucous membranes. 3) Water will be used at the end of the extraction process.
Image Notes 1. Chemicals 2. Safety Equipment
Image Notes 1. Toilet bowl cleaner
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Image Notes 1. Safety googles 2. Gloves
Image Notes 1. Hydrogen peroxide
Image Notes 1. Scissors
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Step 3: Prepare Electronics For Gold Extraction In this step, you will need to take your electronics device and pull out any PCBs from it. On the PCBs, look for gold color. When you find gold, strip all components off the PCB. If necessary, break the PCB in order to fit it into beaker.
Image Notes 1. Components that must be removed 2. Gold foils
Image Notes 1. PCB stripped
Image Notes 1. Stripped and segmented PCB ready for rinsing
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Step 4: Clean Off PCBs In this step, you should rinse off your PCBs under water and dry thoroughly.
Image Notes 1. Rinsing PCB
Image Notes 1. Rinsed PCB ready for etching
Step 5: Create Your Etching Solution In this step, you take the hydrogen peroxide and toilet bowl cleaner and mix equal parts of each with enough total solution to be able to fully submerge PCBs. After the solution has been made, drop the PCBs in and make sure they are fully submerged. This solution is called an etching solution because the solution made above dissolves the nickel under the gold. as a result, the gold foils are detached from the nickel because it has been dissolved. If keeping outside, I recommend putting a large cup with holes in it so the fumes can escape and contaminates don't enter the solution. WARNING: This is the most hazardous part as tiny amounts of chlorine gas are released (depending on he concentrations of the chemicals used. I am using 3% hydrogen peroxide and the toilet bowl cleaner is 9.5% hydrochloric acid.). Make sure you are outside or in a very well ventilated area with the right safety equipment.
Image Notes 1. Hydrogen Peroxide 2. PCB ready to be etched
Image Notes 1. Pouring the first half of the etching solution
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Image Notes 1. Pouring the second half of the etching solution
Image Notes 1. Completed etching solution
Image Notes 1. Hole in side of cup for ventilation
Step 6: Wait For It In this step, all you have to do is wait for the gold foils to come off the PCB. Once you see all the gold foils floating around, wait one more day to make sure all nickel is actually off the gold foils. This process takes a few days at most.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Image Notes 1. After 1 1/2 hours
Image Notes 1. Pieces of gold foil starting to detach from PCB 2. After 20 hours
Image Notes 1. Gold that has settled to the bottom
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Image Notes 1. Complete after 24 hours
Step 7: Extract The Gold Foils In this step, you should remove the PCB and scrape off any gold still attached to the PCB(you should be wearing gloves if performing this step by hand) and fully submerge it into a cup of water. Then, add some add some water to the existing solution full of gold (I recommend doubling the amount of solution with water. Also, if you need more capacity to hold the solution, a big plastic cup should do.). After you thin out the solution and the gold foils have settled to the bottom, pour out a little of the solution (while keeping the gold at the bottom) into a non metal sink. Add some more water and repeat many times until the solution is thin enough to go through a coffee filter.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Image Notes 1. Scraping gold off PCB
Image Notes 1. PCB submerged in water
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Image Notes 1. Pouring solution into cup to make room for more water
Image Notes 1. Diluting solution
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Image Notes 1. Pouring diluted solution into plastic cup
Step 8: Filter Out Gold Foils In this step, pour your solution containing the gold into the coffee slowly (make sure your coffee filter is over a cup). Be careful not to rip the filter or you will have to start the filtration process over again. Also, if the water the stripped PCBs are submerged in has gold foils floating around, pour that into the filter, too. After filtering out all the gold, pour out the excess water and continue to run regular water through the filter to clean the gold.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Step 9: Remove The Gold Foils Sticking To The Coffee Filter In this step, turn your coffee filter inside out over a cup and add a little water to the top. This pushes the gold foils off the filter and into the cup. Then, wait for the gold foils to settle to the bottom and get as much water out. After that, you could wait for the water to evaporate out and you are left with just gold. However, the gold foils tend to stick to the cup, so I keep mine in a glass vial with some water.
Image Notes 1. Finished gold foils floating around in a cup
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Step 10: Enjoy The Gold You are now very rich!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to read this Instructable. Enjoy!!!!
Image Notes 1. Jackpot
Related Instructables
How to Pan For Gold by mdavis19
Gold Recovery by Josehf Murchison
Turn Copper Pennies into Silver and Gold [Chemistry Trick] (video) by NurdRage
Turn Copper Pennies Gold and Silver Pennies! by tdawg13102
Make Gold And How to Pick a Silver Pennies Science Fair (video) by Project (Photos) kentchemistry.com by scienceprojects
Advertisements
Comments 39 comments Add Comment
Treknology says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:54 AM REPLY Nice idea, but please be aware that doing this with some equipment will yield very little because manufacturers cheat and rely on the nickel only, in which case, you end up with a zero result.
PikesPeak says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:53 AM REPLY
Nicely done, and seems easy enough to do.
nature-inst says:
Aug 14, 2014. 6:55 PM REPLY
Is it orginal gold?
NeonfOx says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:52 AM REPLY
As no-one is able to make gold (as its an element), therefor all gold is original gold however i'm assuming your asking if its pure or real gold and yes its real but no not pure as this process doesn't just leave behind the just the gold. you would need further processing to extract the "pure" gold
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Woodco says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:41 AM REPLY Good one! Thanks. I have done a lot of this, but never thought of using toilet bowl cleaner. It's cheaper to buy muriatic acid from the hardware store instead of toilet bowl cleaner. The last gallon I bought was just over $6, that's counting a contractor's discount. We use it for cleaning brick and tile.
ProjectPlace says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:49 AM REPLY
Thanks so much! That's a great idea. I did not think of that. I will check it out and try it.
jog says:
Aug 17, 2014. 6:21 AM REPLY I'm a professional gold and platinum smith. Been doing it for 45 years. Don't try this at home kids. Really. Not even big refiners want electronics to refine. Not worth the money. It's also dangerous and tough on the environment. Any acid you pour down your drain is a bad idea. I've handled aqua regia many times in my career. We use it in very small amounts to dissolve solder from platinum scrap to reuse. You have to bring it to a boil to make it effective. With just occasional use, maybe once every few months, in just one year the fumes literally ate up the exhaust fan. I also use cyanide on a regular basis. I'm not dead yet, but then I am a professional and the daughter of a chemist so I know how to handle this stuff.
wolfgang64 says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:49 AM REPLY jog I agree totally! I to am a pro and think this is very dangerous and shouldn't be attempted by anyone who is just learning.
richviers says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:30 AM REPLY Before centrifuge technology became a mass method of extracting gold cyanide and mercury were the most commonly used methods of extraction other that heat. Cyanide is really only dangerous when allowed to mix with acidic compounds, so if you use acids to separate anything I highly recommend that you neutralize any remaining acid by rinsing with water treated with lime. I worked in some mines and have done some amateur prospecting myself. Using mercury amalgam to separate gold from sand. When using mercury though I used a closed environment similar to a still.
Ludvic says:
Aug 14, 2014. 1:40 AM REPLY Sorry but in this process you don't extract gold, the only solution can dissolve gold is aqua regia (nitric acid, and hydrogen peroxide)
DoctorBobPetersen says:
Aug 14, 2014. 11:34 AM REPLY he's not dissolving the gold, he's dissolving the nickel from underneath the gold, nickel which IS dissolved by Hydrochloric or Hydriodic acid. The gold plate is left free of the substrate. Not a viable money-making process at this volume unless you manage to find your chemicals for free-otherwise financially you'd be better off picking grains of gold out of sand at the beach. Still entertaining and educational though!
Light_Lab says:
Aug 17, 2014. 6:23 AM REPLY I am doubtful that the hydrochloric acid content of a toilet cleaner, even boosted with hydrogen peroxide is strong enough to dissolve much nickel, I believe just the copper has dissolved. I would love to check this but I have never seen Lysol for sale here in Oz.
ProjectPlace says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:32 AM REPLY About a year ago, I was looking at a cross section diagram of a PCB showing the layers of metal. If I remember correctly, touching the PCB was copper, then nickel, then the gold on top. I could be wrong. However, after the gold was removed, copper was visible and no nickel was visible on the gold. So, either the etching solution dissolved some copper, but not all of it and there was no nickel to begin with. Or, the nickel in between the copper and gold was dissolved. Thanks for commenting!
Light_Lab says:
Aug 17, 2014. 5:20 AM REPLY Aqua Regia is made from nitric acid and hydrochloric acid and is dangerous enough. Mixing nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide is super hazardous DON'T DO IT: http://www.solvaychemicals.us/SiteCollectionDocume... Aqua Regia is the only acid that will dissolve gold but there are quite a few non-acids that will dissolve gold. The industry uses cyanide and/or mercury to extract trace gold from ore but these are both intensely poisonous and should not be tried at home. Even if you do it safely you have to ultimately dispose of the waste chemicals safely for the environment. Back in the 70's I extracted the gold, copper and solder from from about a 100Kg of salvaged circuit boards. Even with the thicker gold used in those days I didn't get enough total return to cover the total cost of the processing. As I recall we got more return from the copper and other scrap metals than we did from the gold, still not nearly enough to make a profit.
abinc says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:23 AM REPLY I know that contacts for "quality" electronics are gold plated, and that gold is applied over a layer of another metal like nickel, but it is not clear to me from the photos that you provide, that you are actually reclaiming gold. I like the trick of dissolving out the base metal, instead of trying to remove the gold from it. The question is, are you SURE it is not copper that you are capturing from the PCBs instead of gold? Think of the "hollow penny" experiment: We file notches in post-'73 pennies, then soak them in HCl. These pennies are 97% zinc with a thin copper cladding. The zinc dissolves in the acid leaving the shiny copper foil behind. Maybe THAT is what you have?
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
richviers says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:20 AM REPLY Great job relating the instructions for doing this, I have always used fire or mercury for extracting gold and may be able to get better results with less actual hazard.
dmadam says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:04 AM REPLY I also think clogged drain fluid would work as most contain hydrochloric acid too. Does the concentration of the hydrochloric matter?
ProjectPlace says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:17 AM REPLY
The higher the concentrations of either chemical used should decrease the time it takes to dissolve the nickel base.
anthonybarbuto says:
Aug 17, 2014. 7:02 AM REPLY I would think OLD TVs with cathode ray tubes would have a lot of gold...what parts do you treat?....how much gold would you extract from a TV?...What about computer monitors?
[email protected] am broke and need some cash.
andreawood28 says:
Aug 17, 2014. 6:19 AM REPLY
How much gold can you get from one phone? What kind of other electronics do you look for?
puppytown04 says:
Aug 16, 2014. 6:13 PM REPLY
cool I have will try
cat1986 says:
Aug 14, 2014. 7:28 PM REPLY
Sounded interesting now to start to extract Some Gold! Thanks
DBM1999 says:
Aug 15, 2014. 1:41 AM REPLY
Hello!
cat1986 says:
Aug 15, 2014. 7:06 AM REPLY
Hi
gravityisweak says:
Aug 15, 2014. 5:53 AM REPLY As many have said, it's not a very profitable method, but it is a fun and educational process. I prefer to harvest my gold flakes from Goldschlager.
DBM1999 says:
Aug 15, 2014. 1:49 AM REPLY
good!
nature-inst says:
Aug 14, 2014. 6:54 PM REPLY
Is it orginal gold?
kretzlord says:
Aug 14, 2014. 2:44 PM REPLY
Well, I'll have to try this. Seems a lot less caustic than the other versions i've seen
bpetno says:
Aug 13, 2014. 2:36 PM REPLY
How much is the gold worth from an average chip?
DoctorBobPetersen says: a large CPU will contain about $0.15 worth of gold if gold is $1250/oz
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Aug 14, 2014. 11:36 AM REPLY
xtreemmughal says:
Aug 14, 2014. 10:52 AM REPLY
its original gold..?
mwuchevich says:
Aug 14, 2014. 8:41 AM REPLY maby you can reuse the finished blue solution to elctro nickel plate some pennies.... not a chemistry buff in any way... but it might be Worth a try.
ProjectPlace says:
Aug 14, 2014. 9:39 AM REPLY
Thats a great idea! The solution should be able to work as an electrolyte of some sort. Thanks for sharing.
PirateLabs says:
Aug 13, 2014. 7:54 PM REPLY Very cool and well explained indestructible. Thanks for making it. I had a science professor who once told me that an ounce of gold could plate the entire outside of the Empire State building. He was making the point on just how thin gold plating actually is. But, since gold has gone way up since then, and if you get the parts for free, just as you said, you can make some money. Good work.
ProjectPlace says:
Aug 14, 2014. 3:53 AM REPLY Thank you very much! The plating is very thin and therefore makes this project more of a novelty. However, there are actually companies that process hundreds of electronics devices a day and can extract a few ounces of gold a week. Thanks for commenting.
baecker03 says:
Aug 13, 2014. 4:40 PM REPLY it can be lucrative if I'm process in bulk. I'm guessing if you cut the bottoms off numerous cards etc and retrieve the gold, you could become more efficient. if you want higher purity, or less impurities, you would need another process with say aqua regeia sp?
ProjectPlace says:
Aug 13, 2014. 3:34 PM REPLY bpetno- It's not worth much; maybe a few dollars at most. However, if you keep extracting over the years, you might make a few hundred dollars. Not worth it, but it's fun to do.
ProjectPlace says:
Aug 13, 2014. 3:30 PM REPLY ZaneEricB- I actually tested the the carat value myself and had it tested by a jeweler, too. The carat value is about 22/23 carats.
ZaneEricB says: What is the average weight/carat value of the gild used in electronics?....anyone?
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/
Aug 13, 2014. 2:43 PM REPLY
