gold recovery

M

mellowyellow

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Jun 8, 2002
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I have a couple of boxes of REALLY old computer<br />boards that have a good amount of gold in them.<br />I know there are companys that melt them down for<br />the gold, but how do they do it? no burning laws<br />here, so I could get a nice hot fire goin in the <br />back yard once snow melts. any ideas? does the gold<br />automatically seperate from the other metals?<br />curious....<br />M.Y.
 
X

Xcusme

Commander
Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Messages
2,888
Re: gold recovery

Burning ain't gonna' get it. It's usually done by chemical stripping and the chemicals are highly toxic. Best to have a firm do it for you if you have enough raw boards etc. The process of reverse plating is popular.
 
J

jimchere

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Messages
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Re: gold recovery

Those old boards probably contain PCB's (Poly-Chloryl Biphenyl) (sp?), which is a proven (not a "maybe") carcinogen. If you burn them you risk breathing the fumes along with contaminating the soil. Not necessarily a good thing to throw them into the dump either.<br />I guess I don't have a really good answer other than recycle them through your county/town haz waste facility or annual cleanup that many places have. Just don't burn them in your yard for your safety.
 
M

mellowyellow

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Re: gold recovery

bad idea eh? LOL<br />sorry, bored... burning stuff is fun though :p
 
J

jimchere

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Re: gold recovery

Always tempting to "light it up" for me too ;) I had to check the spelling, its actually polychlorinated biphenyls, and in your case maybe small amounts contained in capacitors and the power supply. There's just as much bad stuff you could get from the lead solder, mercury and arsenic too. Most polychlorinated biphenyl use was terminated around 1977. Still makes you think twice when a big transformer on a power line blows, though!
 
M

mellowyellow

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Re: gold recovery

no power supplies, but some have resistors and<br />capacitors.... some don't. all old vax server<br />boards that plugged into the backplane.
 
P

Paul Moir

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Nov 5, 2002
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6,847
Re: gold recovery

If your fixin to put em in the fire for fuel, watch yourself around the electrolytic capacitors (the can shaped ones). They'll explode a bit.<br />Personally, I would hang those on the wall! :)
 
LubeDude

LubeDude

Admiral
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Oct 8, 2003
Messages
6,945
Re: gold recovery

MellowYellow:<br /><br />Go to the fishing forum, I left you a link there about a 402!!
 
R

rwise

Captain
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Jul 5, 2001
Messages
3,205
Re: gold recovery

Look for a recycler in your area, one here pays $.25 per lb for old boards. I bet I have a truck load!<br />Richard
 
M

mellowyellow

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Re: gold recovery

very cool link Ralph :cool: <br />at .25c/lb, I might make $25 total. not worth<br />the hassle.<br />thanks gang,<br />M.Y.
 
R

rwise

Captain
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Jul 5, 2001
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Re: gold recovery

that's why I still have a truck load of them, maybe there old enuf to be collector items!
 
pjc

pjc

Lieutenant Commander
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Jun 29, 2003
Messages
1,856
Re: gold recovery

Ahoy MY...sell them on Ebay as collectables.<br /> web page <br />some one may bid on boards. A few years back NASA was looking for old 'puter stuff for space shuttle. ;)
 
M

mellowyellow

Vice Admiral
Joined
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Messages
5,327
Re: gold recovery

howdy Pat, love buying on ebay, hate selling! LOL<br />too much of a pain for small items...<br />thanks anyways,<br />M.Y.
 
T

tylerin

Commander
Joined
Jul 25, 2003
Messages
2,368
Re: gold recovery

Worked for a guy in high school and he went around and collected computer boards. We dipped all of them in cyanide and than a few days later put the cyanide through a filtering process. After filtering the cyanide many times we burned the filters in a crucible. He added some stuff to remove the impurities and poured bars of gold 99.9%...........Fire department shut him down
 
R

Ralph 123

Captain
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Jun 24, 2003
Messages
3,983
Re: gold recovery

Pat - that computer, the Altair, started the PC revolution. Microsoft started because Allen read the article in Popular Science about that machine and him and Gates spent a couple of weeks writing a BASIC (beginners All Symbolic Integrated Code) interpreter for it.<br /><br />Then, when IBM decided to make a PC, they went to Gates to license the software. They (IBM) tried to license the OS from a guy who made an OS called CP/M who decided he rather fly his plane than meet with them that day. So they asked Gates if he had an OS and he said, "Sure" although he really didn't.<br /><br />So Gates and Allen rushed out and did a deal with a guy who wrote QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) for $50K and the rest as they say, is history...
 
M

mellowyellow

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 8, 2002
Messages
5,327
Re: gold recovery

and loacl rochester Xerox genious's gave him the<br />mouse technology for free.....
 
L

lund17

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Oct 22, 2003
Messages
216
Re: gold recovery

Paul Moir's warning that they might "explode a bit" is a sure invitation to burning ;) . I'm bored too :D Here we burn x-mas trees this time of year to break up the monotony and as an excuse for a party. Sure wish I had a couple of boards to throw on :cool:
 
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