Questions about computer boards

[ilyaz]

Are the yellow "fingers" (photo, red box) gold? What about the things in the blue boxes? I saw various people selling these fingers in bulk on eBay. So is it better to cut the fingers off and throw the rest away or keep the board intact? We don't have many scrap yards in my area and those that are close to my home do not boards at all. So I presume my only option is eBay, but is it better to go the "finger" route or the "whole board" route? Also, if I do keep whole boards, do I need to first remove large electronic components like capacitors, transformers etc, or should I keep them?

[tjlock]

I have been doing alot of research on circuit boards, I haven't sold yet cause my camera is broken so no pics, and I want highest dollar possible like anyone else. All the sites that I have been to, refer to the fingers as "Gold Finger Scrap". But there are a numerous amount of other metals on boards. Some of the more precious metals are Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Palladium. There are other metals that some are processed off of boards are nickle, zinc, aluminum, copper, brass, and many more.

Not sure who is buying boards if they are breaking them down completely for the metals or just for the gold. If they are just buying for gold, it doesn't seem like they get their moneys worth because the gold flaking still needs to be refined. If the buyers are from actual e waste recycle companies, then they are breaking them down for everything according to regulations and laws in place to eliminate the waste from landfills.

So bottom line, assume they buyers have knowledge in getting the most out of boards and sell them whole. Processor chips contain gold and other precious metals as well as eproms, slot processors, and ram chips.