We extract gold silver platinum from boards. We extract gold from motherboards. Technology for obtaining silver from photographic materials
As the volume of information processed by companies grows, server parks also grow. All this abundance of large equipment eventually becomes obsolete, decommissioned and ... often thrown away or idle as a dead weight in warehouses. However, servers, like any electronics, contain a large number of harmful substances and therefore need to be properly processed. It would seem that this is a rather boring and costly task, but if you approach it wisely, you can extract gold from old servers. Literally. And not only from them.
It is no secret that a wide variety of metals are used in the manufacture of electronics. And that includes gold. It is believed that in one metric ton of e-waste it contains from 250 to 450 grams. And more and more enthusiasts do not throw out obsolete and broken gadgets, but accumulate them for the subsequent extraction of valuable metals. Of course, the proportion of gold and platinum in a laptop or server is small, but by recycling a few dozen old gadgets thrown out as unnecessary, you can collect the same gold for quite a good ingot, whose cost will block your efforts.
In addition to gold, copper is of some value, from which printed circuit board tracks are made. By the way, this metal is one of the reasons for the theft of air conditioners, in the heat exchanger of which copper tubes are used. A lot of copper can be extracted from power supplies.
If you have already grabbed a screwdriver and are greedily looking at the old system units dumped in the pantry, then do not forget that electronics also contain a lot of substances that are harmful to health. For example, kinescopes of TVs and monitors will "please" your body with lead, barium and strontium. But in general, an ordinary smartphone contains almost a third of the periodic table.
The chemicals used in the extraction of metals are also far from safe. For example, aqua regia, a mixture of concentrated nitric and hydrochloric acids, can be used to dissolve gold and platinum. So that reliable protection bodies, goggles, a high-quality respirator and a well-ventilated area - absolutely the necessary conditions when extracting precious metals from electronics.
Where is the most valuable metals?
The main places of computers and servers where precious metals are concentrated: motherboards, processors, memory modules, expansion cards and gold-plated cable plugs.Take, for example, a motherboard and an expansion card:
A - Inside the north and south bridges there are the thinnest gold wires, as well as gold-plated paths connecting different levels of the board.
B - Gold-plated connector contacts.
C - Gold-plated contacts for memory and PCI slots.
D - Integrated boards may contain the finest gold wires.
E - Monolithic ceramic capacitors (SMD, Surface mount device) may contain palladium, and in some cases also silver.
Gold-plated contacts visible to the naked eye need no explanation.
It makes sense to go around friends and acquaintances, collect old computers, broken phones, broken tablets, non-working laptops, old Soviet tape recorders, radios, TVs from them. System administrators whose companies are updating their server park with decommissioning of equipment will be especially lucky: ancient servers are a rich source of gold-bearing components.
note: the older the gadget, the more precious metals it contains. There is especially a lot of gold and silver in the electronics of the 1940-60s.
How to extract gold?
So, you will need:- Unnecessary electronics.
- Rubber gloves.
- Rubber apron.
- Glasses.
- 3% hydrogen peroxide solution (buy at a pharmacy).
- 31% solution of hydrochloric acid.
- Methyl alcohol (used as automotive antifreeze).
- Funnel filter (can be used from a coffee machine).
- Two large glass jars.
- Plastic or glass stirring sticks.
- Balance accurate to approximately 5 mg.
- Gas-burner.
- Clay pots or other vessels whose material is capable of withstanding temperatures 500 degrees Celsius above the melting point of gold.
- Measuring vessel.
Collect a lot of gold-bearing components, including processors, cable plugs, etc. Then sort the electronics: boards that need to be cleaned, gold-plated connectors, gold-plated pins and headers, etc. A magnet can be used to sort the gold-plated steel components.
In one glass jar put the gold-plated combs and cleaned boards together, in another mix two parts hydrochloric acid and one part hydrogen peroxide. Pour the resulting mixture into the first jar so that the liquid completely covers its contents. Wait a week, stirring daily.
In the meantime, these trimmings are soaked, let's do cupellation. This is the process of extracting gold or silver from alloys based on lead, copper, zinc or other metals. The principle is that precious metals do not oxidize and do not enter into a chemical reaction, unlike the base metals of the alloy, which, when heated, form slags and other compounds, and the precious metals are separated from them. Cupellation has been known since the Bronze Age and is still used today to extract gold and silver. However, this process does not allow separating silver from gold, but in our case this is not necessary.
In fact, cupellation is the burning of alloy slag with a burner until a beautiful yellow piece of metal is formed, which remains only to cool.
A week has passed, it's time to check our acid-soaked components. The liquid darkened from the substances dissolved in it, and tiny flakes of gold can be seen at the bottom.
We drain the contents through a filter that traps the scales. Save the drained solution, do not pour it into the sewer. We wash the filter with gold particles first with a stream of water, and then with methyl alcohol. It cleans gold much better, unlike water, droplets of which will remain on the scales and gold dust and increase their weight when weighed.
We throw them out and sort them - cleaned of gold in the trash, uncleaned we set aside for re-soaking in acid.
Now let's smelt the collected gold scales and dust. There are two methods - using mercury (not suitable for us because of the toxicity of its vapors) or borax.
Borax has been used since ancient times in artisanal gold mining, making it possible to lower the melting point of the metal contained in the ore. In a normal situation, gold melts at a temperature of 1064 degrees Celsius, which is hardly achievable at home. If you place gold powder in borax, then you can smelt ingots at a lower temperature. Moreover, this method gives a higher yield of gold than when using mercury.
We place a ceramic pot over a gas burner, heat it up, pour in borax, after it melts, add gold powder and more borax, and continue heating.
And what to do with the resulting ingot, let your imagination tell you.
When writing a post, materials from the site were used
Gold has always had the highest value since ancient times. This precious metal acts not only as a guarantor of the currency, but also various kinds of jewelry that show the status of its owner.
That is why gold rings, chains, earrings, bracelets, etc. are the most luxurious and desirable gift. However, not many people think that gold can be used to create equipment, in particular radio components.
Enough with this interesting information, This article will introduce you and give an answer to the question: how to get gold from radio components?
Both silver and gold can equally be used to coat radio parts. But despite the greater electrical conductivity of silver and a lower degree of electrical resistance of silver, manufacturers prefer gold. This is due to the fact that this precious metal oxidizes much more slowly, which allows the parts to serve for many years.
Foreign manufacturers also use gold to cover microcircuits, but if you are wondering about this, the answer is that much more gold can be obtained from radio components in domestic technology.
It is worth noting here that a greater percentage of the gold content is found in Soviet-made radio components. Surely in the basement, in the attic or mezzanine, you have old parts lying around, which it was always a pity to throw out. This is where they come in handy.
So, in Soviet electronics: televisions, tape recorders, radios, almost all radio components were present, one way or another containing gold. and where to get them?
- Transistors whose gold content is under the crystal and conductor, sometimes on legs. Basically, these are transistors of the KT series (101,103, 117, 603, 613, etc.).
- You can also get gold from microchips, because. the precious metal was deposited by electroplating, i.e. covering one metal with another through the action of an electric current.
- Connectors made in the Soviet period are also covered with a few microns of gold.
- Radio tubes, in addition to gold, they may also contain silver, platinum, tantalum (models: 12P17L, 6V1P, 6ZH1P-EV, GMI-11, etc.) More detailed description radio tubes, can be found in the specialized literature. It is impossible not to say about the radio tubes of the GMI series, in some models the weight of pure gold can reach 16 grams.
- In semiconductors, in particular, in diodes of the D series, LEDs, zener diodes, thyristors, etc. there is gold in small quantities.
- Capacitors contain the largest number gold, but only in those that were used only for the construction of military equipment, moreover, of the old model.
- Also microparticles of gold are contained in modern details, for example, in SIM cards.
- In the manufacture of metal wristwatches in the USSR, the precious metal acted as a cover for the case.
- Computer parts also consist of , connectors on motherboards ah, etc. It is important to know that the extraction of gold will be successful if the computer is "older", because. it contains more precious metal.
"Royal vodka", as a way to extract gold from radio components
Gold in radio components is not contained in pure form, along with many other metals and alloys. Therefore, the primary task is to separate the desired metal from unnecessary ones. There are several ways to do this, some can be used to mine gold from radio components at home, however, it is worth remembering that this is a very time-consuming and hazardous process.
The most popular way is . This is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids in a ratio of 3 to 1. The formula of "aqua regia": HNO3 + 3HCL = CL2 + NOCL + 2H2O.
This amazing acid is capable of corroding metals, so you need to act very carefully and think through all the outcomes of the experiment in advance. All utensils used in this case should be glass.
The resulting liquid must be heated on an electric stove with radio components immersed in it, previously cleaned of unnecessary plastic and contaminants. For 1 gram of metal you need 3 ml of "royal vodka". When heated, the metals will begin to dissolve, and the liquid itself will become bright green in color due to the other metals dissolved in it.
Then the second process begins - the extraction of gold, which was dissolved in "royal vodka". Here you will need hydroquinone - 0.5%, which is mixed with water - 5 g. per 100 ml. The resulting liquid is carefully and dropwise added to the acid - 1 ml. solution per 100 ml. acids. You need to gently stir everything and leave to brew for 3-4 hours.
After that, the sediment we need should remain at the bottom. The solution, which is liquidated from above, and the solution with the precipitate is evaporated and dried.
The resulting powder must be smelted into an ingot using not cunning tricks. This can be done using a heating crucible and borax, which saves the metal from the oxide film.
Method for extracting gold from radio components without heating
If you are puzzled by the question: how to extract gold without dangerous work? This method also takes place, however, it takes much more time, a week. Parts containing gold are lowered into a liquid, which consists of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a ratio of 2 to 1.
For 7 days, gold is separated from other metals. Then you need to pass the solution through the filter, you can use paper, and wash the precipitate with methyl alcohol. The precipitate is also dried and melted into an ingot.
There are other ways to get precious metals, but they are much more complicated and dangerous than those described above. You can also get gold using electrolysis, sulfuric and hydrochloric acids.
All methods make it possible to extract gold in a fairly pure form, however, trace elements of other alloys will still be present.
To get rid of unwanted particles, you need to carry out a procedure called refining. This is a more detailed and fine cleaning using acids, resulting in the extraction of pure gold.
Naturally, you need to understand that any work with acids can have serious consequences.
For example, working with "aqua regia", or rather the refining process, where metals are dissolved, takes about six hours.
In this case, the strongest release of nitric oxide occurs.
Therefore, in no case should you do such work in closed lighting, windows should be open so that Fresh air had a constant opportunity to enter the room.
One breath of poisoned air with oxides can cause sudden and painful death, as doctors simply do not have time to provide first aid.
precious metal quality
After the first procedure with the use of “royal vodka”, brown metal flakes should remain, yes, this is gold, however, low-grade. To increase the purity and quality of gold, you need to repeat the purification process with acids.
In the Soviet period, radio components contained gold on a par with copper, so the purification of gold from copper takes a long time. But all these costs are worth it, because after that it appears in its purest form - 999 test.
On the Internet, you can find a number of some articles that call for buying up electronics and opening a kind of business.
On the one hand, the idea in this way, despite all the diligence and laboriousness of the work, is quite profitable, especially during the period crisis situation. All that is required is to find electronics, chemical elements, and also add painstaking work to the work. In addition, gold is a currency that will never lose its value and stability.
Of course, getting gold as a business idea may seem super promising, but still, first of all, you need to ask if such an activity has consequences, and if so, what.
Engage in the purchase of precious metals, scrap, etc. only registered and licensed organizations may engage.
These norms are regulated by regulatory legal acts “Rules for the purchase of precious metals from the population, precious stones in products and scrap”, “On licensing activities in the field of handling non-ferrous and ferrous scrap”, the federal law"On Precious Metals and Precious Stones".
Only specialized large enterprises, the list of which is officially approved by the government, have the right to refining gold and refining, so any such activity is considered illegal. In the Criminal Code Russian Federation sanctions are also provided for the purchase of radio equipment for the purpose of gold mining and this kind of enrichment.
It is rather unusual to know that such expensive things constantly surround us. Even SIM cards that are constantly with us also have particles of gold. Therefore, this article is only for informational and informative purposes, thereby expanding your horizons and range of knowledge.
Computer technology requires the use of metals with inert properties. Therefore, the active production of computers at the end of the 20th century led to a reformatting of the market for the legal use of gold.
According to statistics, the production of computer equipment today requires up to 17,000 tons of this precious metal per year.
Computer hardware is rapidly updated. Old models are being replaced by new ones, which should not be rushed to be thrown into the trash, since some of the details in it contain gold.
In order to get a good income from the recycling of precious metals, you need to understand how much gold is in the processor. The older the model, the greater the percentage of gold and other valuable metals in it.
In modern mobile type computers, the amount of gold does not exceed 25-30 mg. The most "gold-bearing" are considered status models of computers that use a super-expensive motherboard.
The reduction in the content of precious metals in modern electronics is associated with a decrease in its dimensions and the dimensions of its parts. Therefore, the most profitable in terms of mining and recycling of gold and other rare earth metals are considered to be computers produced in the 90s, of which quite a lot is still used in production and in everyday life.
Old electronics from the 90s contains as much gold as 2 tons of ore in a gold mine. In addition to gold, such a computer contains:
These rare earth metals can only be extracted from parts in industrial conditions, but gold from a computer old model can be obtained at home using a solution of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide.
You also need to know in what details this precious metal is present in the maximum size.
In general, older desktop computers have a gold content of 4 to 12 grams, while modern models it does not exceed 35 mg due to the compactness of such an "iron".
Most gold is in processors:
- on connectors, where its volume is up to 3 mg;
- on the body in the contacts it is contained in an amount of 2-3 mg;
- in the FCPGA case, the volume of gold reaches 12 mg;
- the processor's memory slot contains 1 mg of this precious metal.
The content of gold in the keyboard, cooler and computer power supply is also high. At right approach to extract it, you can earn significant income.
To those volumes that are extracted from the processor of the old computer, you can also add peripheral equipment, which will further increase the amount of gold obtained for recycling.
A large amount of computer equipment makes this process cost-effective. It is not surprising that Belarus, which does not have its own gold deposits, extracts a significant part of the gold in this way.
It should be remembered that the gold content in a computer directly depends on its model. Most of all, this metal is found in old computers:
- Intel;
- Pentium Pro.
These old models contain from 8 to 12 g of gold. Such a volume of precious metals in electronics forced Russian legislators to adopt a special law number 41, which regulates the process of recycling office equipment at state-owned enterprises and institutions.
But a large number of office equipment in private hands makes the process of extracting the precious metal from it quite a profitable activity for individuals as well.
To extract the precious metal from computer parts, hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide are required. With their help, you can remove gold plating from computer parts. Hydrochloric acid can be replaced with citric acid, as jewelers do today.
You will also need to prepare:
Depending on how much gold is in the computer, a certain amount of solution of hydrochloric acid and peroxide in a ratio of 2:1.
When preparing a solution, you need to pour hydrochloric acid into hydrogen peroxide, and not vice versa. In this case, during the diffusion of the compositions, there will be no splash of acid from the vessel.
It is necessary to prepare a working solution in a ventilated room, wearing protective equipment on hands and face.
Pour hydrochloric acid into peroxide slowly, stirring the solution with a plastic stick. The resulting composition should give a greenish tint.
Parts from the processor, which contain gold, are placed in this solution and left for a week in glass container. The solution needs to be stirred from time to time.
In a week, the gold tracks from the boards and contacts will come off the parts and settle at the bottom of the vessel in the form of small gold grains.
To extract gold from acid, it is necessary to filter the solution through a paper or cloth filter. The particles of gold that have settled on it cannot be touched with your hands, as it is too soft and can turn into dust.
The grains of gold remaining on the filter must be washed off with vodka or alcohol in a test tube or glass container with a tight lid.
Gold is present in many elements of the motherboard: IDE connectors, slots for PCI Express, PCI, AGP, ISA and other ports, in jumpers, in the processor socket and DIMM slots (SIMM on older motherboards). All these connectors often cover thin layer gold a few microns thick.
Tools
To conduct experiments, you need a large number of contacts - they were just provided by our "donor" motherboards.
Chemical reagents and tools are also needed.
After the gold has been separated from the contacts, the bath must be allowed to settle. Then you should remove as much sulfuric acid as possible, after which you can begin to dissolve the residues at the bottom of the electrolytic cell.
We have a solution of sulfuric acid, various metals (including gold) and waste that needs to be filtered. Why not filter the acid directly without diluting it? Simply due to the fact that paper filters will not resist concentrated sulfuric acid.
In fact, we will use chlorine, which was released as a result of mixing hydrochloric acid and chlorine bleach, to dissolve gold in the form of gold chloride III.2 Au + 3 Cl2 -> 2 AuCl3
Now we need to filter again. The filter will retain all waste, leaving only the gold chloride III solution.
We must let the solution settle, after which we will get a gray powder at the bottom of the beaker. Don't waste a single grain - it's metallic gold!
As a result, we got a nice golden shot! Is it possible to call our process economically justified? Definitely not. It only makes sense on an industrial scale. The little gold pellet we received is worth only two or three dollars at current prices. And, frankly, the companies that extract gold from old computers use other technologies and chemicals that are even more dangerous. But, you must admit, it's still interesting to know that you can get gold from the motherboard at home. You can also get gold from expansion cards, processors and chipsets.
To get gold you don't have to leave the house. It is enough to advertise: - "I will buy old radio components". Samples of past decades contain yellow metal, sometimes in very decent amounts. Buying from suppliers certain models, you can extract valuable raw materials from them.
It may be smelted into ingots, but it is better to, for example, rings. There may be problems with the free sale of bullion. "Trinkets" are implemented without difficulty. To which radio components with gold it is worth asking how to process them in order to get the jewel, further.
Radio components containing gold
Gold-bearing deposits are developed if the content of the precious element is at least 1 gram per ton of rock. In one microcircuit of yellow metal from 1 to 5 percent. the conclusions of the part enclosed in a ceramic case are covered.
If it is made of plastic, the content of valuable raw materials is less - from 0.2 to 1 percent. In transistors, the precious element is about 2 percent. From gold made a substrate located under the conductor.
But, all records are beaten by capacitors. Their dimensions are approximately equal to a three-liter jar. In one such part, there are approximately 8 grams of yellow metal. In addition, also 50 grams. However, only capacitors used in military equipment - generators and radio signal transmission stations - are equipped with expensive stuffing.
A little can be extracted from radio tubes. The precious element is deposited on a grid located near the cathode. The latter, when the lamp is working, heats the grid. Under the influence of heat, it begins to release electrons. This breaks the product.
Therefore, it is necessary radio component gold plating. Spraying from it is also found on the legs of consecration objects, but this applies only to old samples, tens of years old.
Several microns of precious raw materials were previously applied to connectors, all kinds of semiconductors, such as diodes, optocouplers, thyristors, zener diodes. Gold is rarely found in resistors. However, in some of them, along with silver, there is also a little yellow metal.
These are the standards by which radio components in the USSR in the 70s and 80s of the last century. Gold is also in modern radio components. However, mine hundredths of a gram from an item for which tens, or even hundreds of thousands of rubles were paid, is inappropriate. Let the old parts come into play - another matter.
Most often radio components containing gold, are found in old-style computing devices, switching devices, and radio engineering. Electronic computing units of the SM and CE series should be of interest to applicants in the first place. In one such machine from 0.2 to 10 kilograms. Some can boast of the same military equipment.
Beginners will benefit from a list of more than just common names radio components equipped with gold"stuffing", but also specific designations of models. So:
Transistors KT201, KT203, KT3102, KT301, KT306, KT605. All of them are equipped with legs of golden color.
KT802, 808, 803, 809, 812, 908. We need samples produced before 1986. In later models, gold was not used.
KT907,904, 606. Outwardly, they do not have gold elements, there is no yellow. However, valuable raw materials are actually present.
But KT602, 604, 611, 814, 815, 816, 9909 have golden cases.
Relay RES9, 10, 15, 22, 34, RPS24, 32, 34, RKG15.
Chips K142ENH, K50, K56PY2, AOT101, K145, also known as the "white spider".
Chips K133, 134, 178, 249, 564, 565, K140, 157, 217.
Diodes of the D226 series and the like.
Capacitors Km3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 52-1, 52-7, K53-1, 53-6, 53-7, 53-10, 53 -15, 53-16.
Resistors PTP1, 2, PLP2, 6, PP3-40, 3-41, 3-43, 3-44, 3-45, 3-47, KSP1, 4, KSU1, KSD1, KPU1, KPP1, SP5-1, 5 -2, 5-3, 5-4, 5-14,5-15, 5-16, 5-17, SP3-19, 3-44.
Connectors SNP59-64V, SNP59-96R, GRPPM7-90Sh, RPG2-48.
Switches TV1, P23G, Pg2-5, 2-6, 2-7, 2-10, P1T3-1V, PR2-10, PKN8, PT33-26, PP8-6, PPK2.
How to get gold from radio components
Let's try to figure it out how to get gold from radio parts. The precious metal solvent is a mixture of hydrochloric and sulfuric acids. The proportions are 3 to 1, respectively. It is necessary to mix liquids of a certain density.
The indicator of sulfuric acid should be 1.8 grams per cubic centimeter, hydrochloric acid - 1.19 grams per cubic centimeter. The separation of gold from the base will not take place completely if the solution is not heated to 60, 70 degrees Celsius.
Only in a heated mixture should the item be lowered. After, it should be added to the container a small amount of nitric acid. You will get a solution known as "royal vodka". It dissolves almost all elements, including gold. The microcircuit, or other element, will melt in the mixture, which should then be precipitated with a reducing agent.
The number of radio components and the content of valuable raw materials in them should be taken into account. Usually, for 200 - 300 grams of coated surface, one and a half liters of nitric acid is required. The technique should be disassembled as much as possible, glass elements, areas without precious spraying should be separated. They will take over chemical solution then more will be needed. It is desirable to lower only the parts with yellow metal into the environment.
At room temperature, without heating, metal can be isolated from a mixture of acids by electrolysis. It is only suitable for working with copper and brass parts. A current with a density of 0.1 to 1 A/dm2 is passed through the solution. Lead or iron is used as the cathode. The gold separation procedure is completed if the current begins to drop sharply.
Can be bought already ready-made formulations for the separation of precious metals in specialty stores. It is also possible to establish cooperation with small enterprises of the chemical industry. Reagents are also offered by many Internet sites, delivering products to your home. Methods extracting gold from radio components described above are applicable at home.
The cost of extracting gold from radio components
One liter of reagents costs about 300 rubles. 1 gram of selected gold is valued at about 2500-3000 rubles. To get about 3 grams of yellow metal from KT605 transistors, for example, you need 100 parts. Each of them contains 27 micrograms of valuable raw materials.
You can buy transistors for 15-20 rubles apiece. Spend about 2000 rubles, get about 8000-9000 thousand. It is imperative to calculate the profitability of the enterprise. "Recycling" of some radio components is unprofitable.