removing gold on pc parts?

[Spartan109]

is there a cheap way to remove all the gold off pc parts i have accuired over the years? i have quite a bit so it could add up in price fairly fast if i remove it some how, but google shows up with all these things about nitric acid or something and that stuff is probably costly and/or dangerous........

 

[Le 3eme oeil]

Depends how much you have. According to some lady on Yahoo answers she says:
Extracting the gold is usually done chemically, with (I believe) Cyanide. As such, it's a really dangerous process. In an average PC, you might be likely to extract a few milligrams of Gold; not really worth it unless you are doing so on an industrial scale.

So I don't really know... http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061018090613AA0I4YD

Someone else said your better off just selling the parts.

 

[mdeal]

I used to do this a while back, It take a lot of scrap to actually make any money. As stated above, your better off just selling the parts

 

[setishock]

It's done with an acid bath that can be dangerous. You might want to just scope out the local scrap yards and see who takes circuit boards. Some do and some don't. Then there's the one that only take boards and other electronics goodies. You won't get much but what you get is more than you have now. And you're doing a good thing for the enviroment.

 

[lhuser]

If I have to process gold removal, I will only remove CPU pins, othewise, it's done with dangerous chemicals, and if unhandeled properly, gold will be worthless compared to your life. That's right, you may die.

 

[Spartan109]

well my dad used to work in a manufacturing plant and he has some sodium cyanide that will do it, so its free and i have probably an ounce worth in total sitting in my basement, so i have nothing to lose, he noes how to work with the stuff too so it should be good

 

[FlightSimBoy]

Ok, I'm not sure how to do it either, but I just checked and gold is nearing 1000 dollars an ounce, so if you can do it safely, it is worth it.

Source: http://www.goldseek.com/

I might just have to try this myself, I might have an ounce or more in old parts laying around.

 

[setishock]

well my dad used to work in a manufacturing plant and he has some sodium cyanide that will do it, so its free and i have probably an ounce worth in total sitting in my basement, so i have nothing to lose, he noes how to work with the stuff too so it should be good

Cyanide was at one time what was used in capital punishment executions. Gas chamber ring a bell?
The frigging shit is dangerous. Lhuser is right, you can die... Horribly

Besides the coatings on boards and connectors is microns think. Let me translate that. Several atoms thick. Next to nothing.
Why you think junk yards that do gold recovery wait until they have tons (weight wise ) of boards before they process them?

 

[Spartan109]

^^well, lke i said i have alot and my dad knows how to use it PROPERLY so he can help me out.....

 

[Lowndsey]

hahahahah do you have any idea how many boards you will need to make it worthwhile?..you will literally need tons of the things. I assume the back yard of your house is just totally covered in boards cause thats how many you will need. After you are done extracting the gold with cyanide..if you are still alive you are going to be left with a hell of a lot of toxic waste. What are you going to do with this waste?..you cant just tip it down the drain you know ..you will need to dispose of it properly which will probably cost more than you are going to make from the gold


1000 square inches of gold foil at .025mm thickness weighs about one ounce.