how to extract gold from electronics

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Extract-Gold-From-Electronics/

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How To Extract Gold From Electronicsby 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

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Author:ProjectPlaceHi. 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 topicsthat 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 anyquestions, comments, suggestions, etc., please message me. I love to incorporate your suggestions. Thank you so much for visiting my page. Keep oninventing, Jacob

Intro: How To Extract Gold From ElectronicsIn 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 trulymean a lot. Thanks and Enjoy!

Step 1: WARNING: Hazardous Chemicals UsedAlthough 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 withcare. 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 highlyrecommended.

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.


Step 2: Acquire Apparatus, Chemicals, Materials And Safety EquipmentSafety first:

1) Goggles2) Rubber Gloves3) 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 Filter3) Scissors4) Two Plastic CupsAnd 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 homeimprovement 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 Notes1. Chemicals2. Safety Equipment

Image Notes1. Toilet bowl cleaner


Image Notes1. Hydrogen peroxide

Image Notes1. Safety googles2. Gloves

Image Notes1. Scissors


Step 3: Prepare Electronics For Gold ExtractionIn 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 Notes1. Components that must be removed2. Gold foils

Image Notes1. PCB stripped

Image Notes1. Stripped and segmented PCB ready for rinsing


Step 4: Clean Off PCBsIn this step, you should rinse off your PCBs under water and dry thoroughly.

Image Notes1. Rinsing PCB

Image Notes1. Rinsed PCB ready for etching

Step 5: Create Your Etching SolutionIn 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 thesolution 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 nickelbecause 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 Notes1. Hydrogen Peroxide2. PCB ready to be etched

Image Notes1. Pouring the first half of the etching solution


Image Notes1. Pouring the second half of the etching solution

Image Notes1. Completed etching solution

Image Notes1. Hole in side of cup for ventilation

Step 6: Wait For ItIn 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 isactually off the gold foils.

This process takes a few days at most.


Image Notes1. After 1 1/2 hours

Image Notes1. Pieces of gold foil starting to detach from PCB2. After 20 hours

Image Notes1. Gold that has settled to the bottom


Image Notes1. Complete after 24 hours

Step 7: Extract The Gold FoilsIn 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 fullysubmerge 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 thesolution, 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. Addsome more water and repeat many times until the solution is thin enough to go through a coffee filter.


Image Notes1. Scraping gold off PCB

Image Notes1. PCB submerged in water


Image Notes1. Pouring solution into cup to make room for more water

Image Notes1. Diluting solution


Image Notes1. Pouring diluted solution into plastic cup

Step 8: Filter Out Gold FoilsIn 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 startthe 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.


Step 9: Remove The Gold Foils Sticking To The Coffee FilterIn 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 Notes1. Finished gold foils floating around in a cup


Step 10: Enjoy The GoldYou are now very rich!!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this Instructable. Enjoy!!!!

Image Notes1. Jackpot

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Comments39 comments Add Comment

Treknology says: Aug 17, 2014. 7:54 AM REPLYNice 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 whichcase, you end up with a zero result.

PikesPeak says: Aug 17, 2014. 7:53 AM REPLYNicely done, and seems easy enough to do.

nature-inst says: Aug 14, 2014. 6:55 PM REPLYIs it orginal gold?

NeonfOx says: Aug 17, 2014. 7:52 AM REPLYAs no-one is able to make gold (as its an element), therefor all gold is original goldhowever 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. youwould need further processing to extract the "pure" gold


Woodco says: Aug 17, 2014. 7:41 AM REPLYGood 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 insteadof 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 REPLYThanks 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 REPLYI'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. Notworth 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 mycareer. 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 occasionaluse, 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 Iam a professional and the daughter of a chemist so I know how to handle this stuff.

wolfgang64 says: Aug 17, 2014. 7:49 AM REPLYjog 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 REPLYBefore centrifuge technology became a mass method of extracting gold cyanide and mercury were the most commonly used methods of extraction otherthat heat. Cyanide is really only dangerous when allowed to mix with acidic compounds, so if you use acids to separate anything I highly recommend thatyou 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 REPLYSorry 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 REPLYhe'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 plateis 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'dbe 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 REPLYI am doubtful that the hydrochloric acid content of a toilet cleaner, even boosted with hydrogen peroxide is strong enough to dissolve much nickel, Ibelieve 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 REPLYAbout 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 wascopper, 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 somecopper, 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 REPLYAqua Regia is made from nitric acid and hydrochloric acid and is dangerous enough. Mixing nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide is super hazardous DON'TDO 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 toextract 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 disposeof 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 thosedays 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 thanwe did from the gold, still not nearly enough to make a profit.

abinc says: Aug 17, 2014. 7:23 AM REPLYI 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 thephotos 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. Thequestion 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 inpost-'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 foilbehind. Maybe THAT is what you have?


richviers says: Aug 17, 2014. 7:20 AM REPLYGreat 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 actualhazard.

dmadam says: Aug 17, 2014. 7:04 AM REPLYI 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 REPLYThe 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 REPLYI 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?...Whatabout computer monitors?

[email protected] am broke and need some cash.

andreawood28 says: Aug 17, 2014. 6:19 AM REPLYHow 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 REPLYcool I have will try

cat1986 says: Aug 14, 2014. 7:28 PM REPLYSounded interesting now to start to extract Some Gold! Thanks

DBM1999 says: Aug 15, 2014. 1:41 AM REPLYHello!

cat1986 says: Aug 15, 2014. 7:06 AM REPLYHi

gravityisweak says: Aug 15, 2014. 5:53 AM REPLYAs 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 REPLYgood!

nature-inst says: Aug 14, 2014. 6:54 PM REPLYIs it orginal gold?

kretzlord says: Aug 14, 2014. 2:44 PM REPLYWell, 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 REPLYHow much is the gold worth from an average chip?

DoctorBobPetersen says: Aug 14, 2014. 11:36 AM REPLYa large CPU will contain about $0.15 worth of gold if gold is $1250/oz


xtreemmughal says: Aug 14, 2014. 10:52 AM REPLYits original gold..?

mwuchevich says: Aug 14, 2014. 8:41 AM REPLYmaby 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 REPLYThats 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 REPLYVery 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 entireoutside 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 youget the parts for free, just as you said, you can make some money. Good work.

ProjectPlace says: Aug 14, 2014. 3:53 AM REPLYThank you very much! The plating is very thin and therefore makes this project more of a novelty. However, there are actually companies that processhundreds 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 REPLYit 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. ifyou want higher purity, or less impurities, you would need another process with say aqua regeia sp?

ProjectPlace says: Aug 13, 2014. 3:34 PM REPLYbpetno- 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 worthit, but it's fun to do.

ProjectPlace says: Aug 13, 2014. 3:30 PM REPLYZaneEricB- 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: Aug 13, 2014. 2:43 PM REPLYWhat is the average weight/carat value of the gild used in electronics?....anyone?

how to extract gold from electronics

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