Originally Posted by
Ohio Scrapper
The gold refining forum would be the place to ask these questions.
Noooo, it wouldn't.......... Trust me...
Honestly, I think we should not refer to GRF at all. They get people wanting 'the info' every day. And it is just not that simple to do.
You need to be a business with all the knowledge and paperwork and a huge supply of
escrap to even bother starting the process of using acids etc.
We all know that a 'guy in a garage' is never going to break even when it comes to Gold refining.
There's just too much to learn, and some of that learning is things that nobody can teach you, ever, you have to 'talk the talk' before you can even crawl in this business.
And there's so much investment needed, its not something you can do with some glass beakers and a few litres of store brought Acids and a fish pump from a yard sale.
And even then, time wise, they are not going to profit after expenses and then add in the time it takes, the factual percentage of cockups plus the health aspect and knowing that for every 10 who try, x amount is going to really hurt themselves, and others.
Even after that, they can get only, and this is if they get anything at all, a 50% yeald.
Plus, a computers got Gold in very small amounts, in many places, its not just 'One process', its 15 processes, each different from the other.
That's 15 times the amount of learning and a 15000% more chance of effectively killing themselves.
While NZ has a 'free hospital system' and actually encourages us to do stoopid stuff by giving us money afterwards.
America has not.
It potentially can cripple someone for life, and fines that simply cannot be afforded by the average Joe Dirt.
This has a run on effect to the family and future of far too many people.
All it takes is a is a simple, 'bump' and a glass vessel is smashed and acids spilled everywhere. I can guarantee that's going to happen. 100%.
You know it will happen too.
Its just the amount of acid, its temperature and where it falls that's going to make a difference to the result.
Then, even at the end of the day, if Gold has been gained. Its not worth anything to people. Nobody's going to pay Gold prices for a small lump of Goldish coloured metal, without knowing what's in it, and would you trust someone to tell you what's in it?
And let them set the price?
After a 50% loss in actual Gold return, they are not going to pay you more than 60% of its value.
"It still has to be refined" = another process someone in a business has to do, before they get the Gold.
So, maybe, if lucky, you might get paid for 30%, or less, of the actual Gold that was in there.
And don't even bother talking about the other PM's that are in there, that's another 15 processes.... For a miniscule amount of metal.
I always think of the guy on that forum who did some experiments at home, after a few days noticed a distinctive rust.
He checked his 4 yr old car, noticed the same rust, and sold it within days at a $3000 loss just because he knew that in a few months its possibly going to be worth nothing as rust will have eaten it away.
The best way to make $, or Gold, from escrap is to get as much of it as possible, clean it down properly and sort it properly, pack it up and take it to a escrap buyer.
We have some good ones on this site here, fellow escrappers of the Golden guild.
And sell it to them. Get the ca$h in the hand, that's what you want in the end. Job done.
If you want actual Gold....
Use the ca$h to buy actual 99.99% fine Gold in a solid, redeemable at face value ca$h guaranteed Billet of shiney producable 100% impressive, minted, never seen or felt before, solid heavy slab of GOLD!
So what if its not the same preice of Gold that was in your escrap. That Gold there contains Gold from every place on earth, that was mined last week, last year, last century, last minellium, and the one before that.
It contains Aztek Gold, Russian Gold, Aussie Gold, Chinese Gold, American Gold, and even a fraction of Kiwi Gold!
And what did it take to get it? Well less work than mowing lawns, and less danger too.
Hmm, get some old computers, hmm, unscrew them cases, um, spray with a hose and some detergent, yup, unscrew the rest of the screws.
Pile them up in similar piles, take them to the guy who will give you American $$$, or Gold.. For them.
And, the actual Gold return will be far better, and far less dangerous, and far more rewarding than anything you can get even after learning everything you need to know, and brought everything you need to buy to process it yourself.
The fact is, at home its a 50% return if you actually do get Gold. A refiner will pay you much more than this without any of the work and time or danger.They can get up to 95% of the Gold, even more. They also get the PM's (Precious Metals) that you cannot get yourself.
And, they also get the Silver from the solder and the Copper from the tracks. Just those probably cover their expenses because they do it by the Ton and recycle their acids etc. Safetly.
After all this, you know what to do now. Find, save, separate, store, sell. Buy solid Gold bars.
Impress people, in the end its the same Gold that's in the escrap.
Now, if you do want to get at least a token amount of Gold, to say that "I extracted this Gold from computers myself".
Cut off the chips from low grade boards, sand off the legs. Put them in a coffee tin or such till its full, put a small hole in that and put it on a fire.
This burns off the plastic. Once that's done, yes its a dirty smelly job..
Sieve the larger metal parts from the ash and Gold wires with a sieve , or a
microwave door.
Use a actual Gold pan and some soapy water to 'pan out' the heavy Gold wires and melt that in a crucible to get a small bright showy lump of reclaimed Gold.
Drill a hole in it and wear it around your neck, impress people.
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