Object 1

Gold Recovery Correctly

by Railes in electronics
I will detail a SAFE process of turning old electronic parts into little round lumps of pure gold.
There are many tutorials that claim to offer methods of gold recovery such as "Cupellation"*.
These processes are DANGEROUS and put the user at the risk of inhaling vaporized metals.
No over the counter breather will protect you from these dangers; Only lab grade isolated breathing
systems can protect against metal vapors. ********************************** SEE
HEALTH HAZARD ON STEP 6***************************************

**** a Side cautionary note, This process is not suitable to purify Panned Gold or KARAT (Gold
Alloyed with silver.) This Guide is best suited for gold plated or pure gold object.

THIS SHOULD ALSO NEVER BE ATTEMPTED INDOORS.

*Cupellation is a refining process in metallurgy, where ores or alloyed metals are treated under high
temperatures and controlled operations to separate noble metals, like gold and silver, from base
metals like lead, copper, zinc, arsenic, antimony or bismuth, present in the ore. The process is based
on the principle that precious metals do not oxidise or react chemically, unlike the base metals; so
when they are heated at high temperatures, the precious metals remain apart and the others react
forming slags or other compounds

Step 1: SAFETY FIRST, Always.

In this instructable you will be working with basic house hold chemicals. By themselves these
chemicals can be fairly harmless. The combination of such chemical which will be presented in this
instructable can be EXTREMELY hazardous; By such there are a couple of safety items which are
not Optional. THE FOLLOW ITEMS ARE REQUIRED. FAILURE TO OBTAIN THESE ITEMS
BEFORE HAND CAN POSSIBLY COMPROMISE YOUR HEALTH.

Item # 1.

Breathing equipment. You will need a chemical mask rated AT LEAST as a P100. If you dont know
what a P100 rating means It is your responsibility to yourself to find out.

Item # 2
Heavy duty Gloves. pvc or rubber is fine, do not use Latex or Nitrile gloves.

Item # 3

Safety Glasses. Any pair will work as long as It is safety rated and solvent rated.
 Object 2

Object 3

Step 2: Equipment Needed.

Helpfull items which can make doing these experiments easier.

1. Borosil glass labware.

2. 2 1/2 gallon bucket.
3. a 1 gallon bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. - to be used as a strainer.
4. a 60 ounce pickle Jar
5. Coffee filters
6. Filter holder from a coffee machine.
7. Spray bottle.
8. Mini scale with the ability to measure Grams and Oz.
9. some pipettes and test tube.

Step 3: Chemicals Required.

I have used a number of chemicals these I have found to be the most widely available.

1 gallon of Clorox Bleach. or Sodium hypochlorate at 6%

2. Muriatic Acid 34% HCL ~ Baume.
3. Hydrogen Peroxide - 3% but no greater then 5%
4. Stumpout by Bonide. or Sodium bisulfate - 99.9% as specified in the Msds or Sodium Meta
Bisulfite.
You cannot substitue with these chemicals trying to do so will no give the required reactions.
Step 4: Selecting Materials to Be Recovered.

I was taught by the method of Crap in Crap out. You want your materials to be as clean as possible
with the least Amount of Garbage as possible.

Gold fingers are typically found on PCI cards, ISA cards, or on Memory sims/dimms/etc. They
create the corrosion free connection between the computer and the expansion card.

This process can also be used to recover gold from CPU such as Pentium Pro, or Cyrix or older 486
and lower generation chips.

Step 5: The First Chemical Bath.

Objective of this first chemical bath is to remove a large majority the base metals, Such as nickle,
zinc and copper.

After cleanly removing your plated sections of computer parts. remove any visible capacitors
transistors, or other components. be sure to also remove any steel or iron parts attached. These
metals can foul the reaction causing poor results.

Tools

100 ML beaker, 1 gallon bucket, 2 1/2 gallon bucket.

Chemicals

Muratic acid, and hydrogen peroxide.

Materials you are looking to recover.

First step, place your 1 gallon stainer bucket, into your 2 1/2 gallon wash bucket. But first place
your parts to be recovered inside your 1 gallon strainer bucket. as pictured.

Add enough muratic acid to cover your fingers about 1 cm above your materials. keep track of how
many MLs are added. you want to keep your waste Acids to a minimum. second. To activate the
solution you want to add your Hydrogen peroxide 3 - 5% solution in a 2 to 1 ratio. two parts
muratic acid to one part hydrogen peroxide.

after the Peroxide has been added to your muratic acid the mixture should start to bubble, and the
base metals should begin to dissolve. At this point you should be wearing your safety gear because
a few unfriendly fumes are being released.

This process can take up to 24 - 48 hours. this works best at the temperatures of 80 - 90 F.

When this has been completed you will see a batch of gold foils floating in your now dark green
acid.

Step 6: Filtering the Gold Foils.

Items required
coffee filters
filter holder
60oz pickle jar. or glass container large enough to contain waste acids.

Simply Poor the contents of the two gallon bucket into the pickle jar using the coffee filters to catch
any foils that are floating on the surface of the acid. Once you have pored off all the acid you will
be left with a pile similar to what is in the picture. scoop these from the bucket into another
container for future processing.

Congratulation you are about 50% finished. **********

************************************* HEALTH WARNING

***************************************

Melting at this stage may lead to the following health hazards.

ZINC
Inhalation of zinc oxide fumes can occur when welding or cutting on zinc-coated metals. Exposure
to these fumes is known to cause metal fume fever. Symptoms of metal fume fever are very similar
to those of common influenza. They include fever (rarely exceeding 102o F), chills, nausea, dryness
of the throat, cough, fatigue, and general weakness and aching of the head and body. The victim
may sweat profusely for a few hours, after which the body temperature begins to return to normal.
The symptoms of metal fume fever have rarely, if ever, lasted beyond 24 hours. The subject can
then appear to be more susceptible to the onset of this condition on Mondays or on weekdays
following a holiday than they are on other days.

BERYLLIUM

Beryllium is sometimes used as a alloying element with copper and other base metals. Acute
exposure to high concentrations of beryllium can result in chemical pneumonia. Long-term
exposure can result in shortness of breath, chronic cough, and significant weight loss, accompanied
by fatigue and general weakness.

MERCURY

Mercury compounds are used to coat metals to prevent rust or inhibit foliage growth (marine
paints). Under the intense heat of the arc or gas flame, mercury vapors will be produced. Exposure
to these vapors may produce stomach pain, diarrhea, kidney damage, or respiratory failure. Long-
term exposure may produce tremors, emotional instability, and hearing damage.

LEAD

Inhalation and ingestion of lead oxide fumes and other lead compounds will cause lead poisoning.
Symptoms include metallic taste in the mouth, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal cramps, and
insomnia. In time, anemia and general weakness, chiefly in the muscles of the wrists, develop. Lead
adversely affects the brain, central nervous system, circulatory system, reproductive system,
kidneys, and muscles.

CADMIUM
Cadmium is used frequently as a rust-preventive coating on steel and also as an alloying element.
Acute exposures to high concentrations or cadmium fumes can produce severe lung irritation,
pulmonary edema, and in some cases, death. Long-term exposure to low levels of cadmium in air
can result in emphysema (a disease affecting the ability of the lung to absorb oxygen) and can
damage the kidneys. Cadmium is classified by OSHA, NIOSH, and EPA as a potential human
carcinogen

Disposing of your waste acids.

Place your acid in a separate container, I choose used 2 liter or 3 liter bottles, Label these bottles as
CLCu2 with a black sharpie marker. under that write may also contain trace amounts of NICKLE
and ZINC, BERYLLIUM, CADMIUM and LEAD. You can take these items to your local
hazard roundup or recycle your acids with a method I plan on detailing in another instructable.

DO NOT dump your acids down the drain or on the ground. it is IMPORTANT to be responsible
with wastes.

Step 7: Creating Stannous Cloride.

These foils are about 80% gold, and copper 20%

In order to reach a higher level of purity a second bath is required. For that we will need to create a
test Chemical called Stannous cloride or Sn CL2

This metal is essential for Identify how much gold is left in our 2nd chemical bath.

For this you will need 1 beaker, and about 30 ML or muratic acid. 1 gram of tin metal powder or
shot. Weigh it out using your Scale.

it takes appox 4 hours to completely dissolve the tin metal shot. or instantly for the powder.

The resulting solution should be bright yellow.

Step 8: The Second Chemical Bath Refining Your Gold Foils.

THIS STEP SHOULD NEVER BE ATTEMPTED without your CHEMICAL MASK.

For this chemical bath I will be reproducing the process on small scale. this is by far the most
hazardous step and with the most reactive wastes.

For this step I am going to use a 100 ml beaker a portion of recovered foils, about 3 grams.

I will be using Muratic acid, and clorox.

I will be adding only enough Muratic acid to cover my 3 grams of foils, Using a Pipette I will
slowly add Clorox until all of my foils have dissolved. you can use a glass rod to help felicitate the
process.

After your foils have dissolved the resulting solution will be a deep golden yellow maybe a little
orange in color.

it may be desirable to filter your solution with the coffee filters 1 more time, depending on if little
bits of green plastic from the board found their way into this step.

Step 9: Filtering Particles.

After Dissolving ALL the foils you might notice a small amount of inductors, caps and transistors
that wormed their way into the final process. This is normal.

Simply Filter again using a long neck funnel and a tall flask. The resulting solution should be a
Deep and bright golden yellow..

Step 10: Testing Your Solution for Gold.

Ok, this is the exciting part and one where you get to see some real chemistry at work..

you will need:

Stannous cloride created earlier, 1 coffee filter paper, 2 pipettes or glass droppers.

Simply place 1 dot of recovered solution on a piece of filer paper, Next place one drop of your
stannous cloride on the other. The resulting reaction should turn purple.
If your did CONGRADS you have created AURIC Cloride Or Aucl3 a gold bearing solution. If
your test drop didnt turn purple, add a little more tin to your stannous cloride and heat gently with a
alcohol burner and BOROsiicate test tube. Repeat Test.

depending on how much gold is in your solution it may appear black.

Step 11: Recovering Your Gold.

Recovering your gold in solution is one of the Coolest steps.

Whats needed, a plastic spoon, and the sodium Bisulfate or Stumpout.

Simply add very small amounts of stumpout, Your Mixture should start to look like the pictures I
have provided. This is caused by the SO2 Gas which acts to chemically displace the gold in
solution.

When the reaction has finished you will have driven out a majority of the chlorine, and replaced it
with Sulfur. Any gold which was trapped in the solution has now be come a brown precipitate at
the bottom of your beaker.

Retest with Stannous chloride, if your reaction still turns purple you need to add more stumpout.

It will take appox 10 hours for the gold to competely settle, the solution should be clear at this
point.

Step 12: Melting

OK this is the last stop, At this point you have drained off the last ot the solution with your pipette
the bottom of your beaker should be coated with what looks like dried cinnamon.

THATS PURE GOLD. Put that powder onto a fire brick that has been treated with a flux material
like borax. Melt the borax till it becomes glassy. Apply your powder,

Heat with a MAPP torch or something more aggressive, careful not to blow your powder off the
firebrick.

TADA Pure 24Karat gold.

TO date I have used this process to recover approx 1 pound of gold from computer chips and the
like.

Enjoy....

Railes.

P.S. For more information about this process Visit this website.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/ This is a community of some of the brightest people I have ever had
the pleasure of speaking with.

We have a be nice comment policy.

Please be positive and constructive.

klamp54
4 years ago
Will this work with gold on magnetic based parts ?
I have some old glass resistors from 70's, a few pounds anyway, I'd like to know before I mess it up.
bert102 klamp54
9 months ago
Hry

Railes (author) klamp54

4 years ago
No, ferrous metals will vastly reduce the effectiveness of chemical bath 1, the resulting pulp will
not re-precipitate any gold I'm the final step. For magnetic conductors use Aqua Regina.

17
10 days ago

can i use Aqua Regia to disolve gold ?

CliffordK2
3 months ago
I got some smelted bars that where supposed to contain 40% gold and 60% brass. He said they
came from computer chips. Is there a way to separate them now that they are mixed together?

Powersb
5 years ago
Really interesting procedure (never seen anything like this). Can you use the same procedure for
pins containing gold? Can I use potassium metabisulfite instead of sodium Bisulfite (i cant find
any)?

num1bandit Powersb
4 years ago
sodium bisulfite aka baking soda right?

DouglasD11 num1bandit
4 months ago
baking soda is sodium bicarbonate

Railes (author) num1bandit

4 years ago
no baking soda is calcium carbonate. and yes you can use pottassium metabisulfite.
DouglasD11 Railes
2 years ago

lol, not exactly, Folks, Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Calcium carbonate is chalk, dolomite,
and many other things. Just because it has a Sodium or a carbonate in the name does not make
everything baking soda. Anyone attempting this procedure really needs to know the difference, if
you don't, then you need to do a little research until you do, otherwise you might nerve gas yourself
or blow yourself up. If you're not familiar with chemistry, google solutions, reactions, precipitating
metals and salts out of solution, chemistry safety procedures, molecular bonds, ions in solution,
MSDS Safety information for every chemical you use or make. This is a process that requires some
knowledge about what you're doing, it won't work if you don't, or it will backfire on you. Do your
homework and you will have success, if you don't do your homework you will fail, so start googling
:O)

num1bandit DouglasD11
4 months ago
Lol Doug I tried to heat pyrex and make nitric I was out side pirex broke floor full of acid

Guitar_Player Railes
a year ago
baking soda is actually sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3 calcium carbonate is CaCO3 which is a lime
not baking soda

num1bandit Railes
4 years ago
aka ph down?

DouglasD11 num1bandit
2 years ago

no, see above

num1bandit num1bandit
4 years ago
metamisulfate
DouglasD11 num1bandit
2 years ago

no, not even close to the same chemical, baking soda is sodium bicarbonate

SteveRogers num1bandit
3 years ago

If you don't know the difference between baking soda and sodium bisulfite, you need to keep away
from all chemical compounds.

Railes (author) Powersb

5 years ago
That shouldnt be an issue. Instead of creating sodium chloride. You would create potassium chloride
the resulting exchance. Should create so2 gas. Lol give it a try, just dont hold your face over the
beaker if you added distilled water ..

num1bandit Railes
4 months ago
Smelled chitty

Guitar_Player
a year ago
You may want to clarify in step 5 that it is the circuit board fingers not yours. ...there are those
people out there who will put their fingers into acid...

MichaelG524 Guitar_Player
5 months ago

You are a funny man/woman Guitar_Player guy person you! :-D

AmandaG151 Guitar_Player
9 months ago
Bahahaha!!!! Right?!?!
SHOE0007
6 months ago

I even filtered the gold and diluted it. About 50 ml of 50% of 1 g of EDTA was added to double the
gold solution (filtered and decanted).

SHOE0007
6 months ago

I have done test with EDTA ph 8 with ammonia and ammonia chloride and sea salt and test
dissolved partly neutral gold at a ph (solution of 4). It turned yellow gold indicating that there was
no nickel or other metals just gold. Another link said that 95-99.99% of cell phone cpu are gold with
little lead, nickel, etc. If it was lead it would have turned I think white, Nickel (Purple), Chromium
(Purple Cr3+), etc. I may buy on e-bay a very percise nickel test for liquids.

DavidS531
8 months ago

I am sorry about this question but I need to know. Just how many, let's say, SDRAM chips, would it
take to pay for all of the equipment & materials (including chemicals), just to get started? Allowing
you enough pre-purchased equipment & materials to use in the recovery of more gold at a profit. A
close guesstimate will do fine.

EnochS3 DavidS531
7 months ago

the ratio I saw was around a gram per pound of fingers + boards.

EnochS3 EnochS3
7 months ago
In other words, people sell the scrap for way more than it is worth gold-wise, you'd need to find the
scrap for 35-45 a pound max in order to make any money from the gold recovery effort if you were
purchasing the scrap.

ElmakatyA made it!

9 months ago

it is simple but for mor safty use dillute hydrochloric acid till 17%

ElmakatyA
9 months ago

good work

ni1der
10 months ago

I have an antique gold plated cane handle. Will the process work for this item?

ahmad__hatami
11 months ago

my first liquid was blue.what is my problem?

and what should i do with the deposit of it?

YasirB7 ahmad__hatami
10 months ago
I will help you
Contact me on WhatsApp
00923136437898
Yasir Bashir
Ubong01
a year ago

Hello Sir can this work for all CPUs ?...cause I have about 10kg of Computer CPUs

m-iftikhar447 Ubong01
a year ago

Hello Ubong01
can u give me details of cpu kinds, you have
you can e-mail me iftikharcomputer@yahoo.com

Michelle-GianniM
2 years ago

How do you recover the copper from the HCL, hydrogen peroxide and copper solution?

EricJ70 Michelle-GianniM
a year ago

Just put a stainless steel butter knife in the solution for a couple of days. The copper will cement to
the steel. Pull it out and rinse it off. Then you have pure copper.

MarkoK25
a year ago

Okey, I add SMB to the ''Yellow solution that contains gold'' and it went collorless, I left it over the
night and nothing. What I should do now?! Did I add too much SMB, or it is because I need to heat
it ? Please help. Thanks.

namindu
2 years ago

who can tell me where I can find those acids?

treestump420 namindu
a year ago
Pool acid will do the trick.

treestump420
a year ago
Would it be viable to use a 66% acid as opposed to the 34%? If have both but I'm not sure if the
66% would be too strong?

Guitar_Player
a year ago
Lol... *dumps acids down drain* realizes he has metal pipes still... *pipes disappear*

getrich1981
2 years ago
I got two of 155 gram of melted cpu pins. Can i still use this process? Also i couldnt find klean strip
muriatic acid, is 37% hcl from lab company ok?

ClaudioHunter
2 years ago
Bom dia amigos estou precisando de ajuda para extrai ouro de placa dedos e processadores porem
se possivel de agua regia um passo a passo com todos os quimicos.
Att.claudio

enemek
2 years ago

this is should be fun, I'av made some collection. but looking a safe way of doing it.

FredBack
2 years ago

I'm confused. My understanding was that only AR can dissolve gold. You are saying that gold can
be dissolved with HCL and Clorox? I thought nitric acid was required?
RonD2
2 years ago

bonide stump out is smb it is just coled by an name they used years ago. smb is not sodium bicarb
"baking soda" i should know i am a patented publised scientist.
Ron Donahue and pk11195, patents BS/MS/MDs/PhD

AnnaG14
2 years ago

I did all steps, tests were good, when melted I got glass not gold. please help

AnnaG14
2 years ago

Amybaby314
2 years ago
You mentioned putting 3G of flakes into the solution... what was the weight of 24K gold of the
finished product? Thank you for your time. ?

BoudyB

2 years ago
Help !!!! When i added some of smb the solution become clear and no ppt although solution contain
gold

Object 4
 Object 5

About This Instructable

1.003.817views
552favorites
License:
Public Domain

Railes

149
Bio: I eat food, sometimes I'm funny.

More by Railes:
Related


Gold Recovery
by Josehf Murchison

Scrap gold cpu pin recovery

by Archimedes Channel

Pickled Scotch Bonnet Peppers

by Josehf Murchison

MacOS 10.9 Recovery USB

by salthack

 Etching PCBs with Pickle Juice

by Josehf Murchison

Object 6

FEATURED CHANNELS

Woodworking

Paper

 Kitchen Hacks

Puzzles

Laser Cutting

Space

Homesteading

3D Printing

Sewing

Newsletter
Let your inbox help you discover our best projects, classes, and contests. Instructables will help you
learn how to make anything!

About Us
Who We Are
Advertise
Contact
Jobs
Help

Find Us
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
Pinterest
Google+
Resources
For Teachers
Residency Program
Gift Premium Account
Forums
Answers