Copper makes up the connective wires. A study out of the Harare Institute of Technology also listed that printed circuit boards contain, “about 20 wt% copper, 0.04 wt% gold, 0.15 wt% silver, and 0.01 wt% palladium,” with wt% representing percentage by weight.
Valuable & Precious metals – where they are in Computers:
Silver – Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips, keyboard membranes, some capacitors. Platinum – Hard Drives, Circuit board components. Palladium – Hard Drives, Circuit board components (capacitors)
Circuits in modern CPUs and Laptops weigh around 100 gm so you can expect to extract 0.150 grams of Gold. Additionally, the wires and connector pins have gold which will amount to another 0.070 gram and another 0.090 grams for gold plated contacts.
Components like the RAM chips, Hard disk drives, connecting wires, and the motherboard all have some precious metal content. The design of older models of computers also works to your advantage when you want to scrap a computer for metals.
These old computers can contain valuable metals such as gold, copper, and aluminum. While sleek modern laptops do not provide the bounty of precious metals found in the heavier, older units, they can remain profitable, just the same.
Silverware, old medals, pins, jewelry, old awards and plaques all have the potential to contain silver. Old U.S. coins minted before the mid-1960s are another source of scrap silver.
Electronics Retailers
Unsold electronic devices – everything from stereo components to digital cameras – contain silver and small amounts of gold in their printed circuit boards. If you can come away with bins of small bits and pieces and circuit boards, you could stand to profit.
While extracting gold from electronics is not without its challenges, it can be worth it for individuals looking to recover valuable metals and reduce e-waste. However, following safety precautions and using personal protective equipment when handling hazardous chemicals is essential.
Copper makes up the connective wires. A study out of the Harare Institute of Technology also listed that printed circuit boards contain, “about 20 wt% copper, 0.04 wt% gold, 0.15 wt% silver, and 0.01 wt% palladium,” with wt% representing percentage by weight.
Magann: A PC circuit board, where the gold is, weighs about a pound. If you had a ton of those boards, you should have 5 troy ounces of gold.
Neodymium - a soft silvery metal used to create strong permanent magnets for computer disks, microphones and headphones and in the production of powerful infrared lasers.
Silver has the highest electrical conductivity of all metals, with copper having the second highest. This makes silver very useful in electronics, often being used for solder, electrical contacts, and printed circuit boards.
Supply & Demand
The cost of mining silver actually exceeds its selling price. In fact, the majority of silver is mined as a byproduct of other metals, and for approximately every 27,000 pounds of earth, there's only one gram of silver.
The primary source of silver is from ores, with approximately 25% recovered from predominantly silver ores, while the other 75% is recovered as a by-product of other metals such as gold, or base metals such as copper, lead, and zinc.
Junk silver are common-date coins that are graded below the threshold considered collectible. In other words, any coin worth only it's bullion (or melt) value would be considered junk silver. Usually, junk silver refers to U.S. coins that are 90% silver.
Silver is not magnetic, not even with the strongest magnet.
100% pure silver is not currently possible to produce. 999, known as “three nines fine”, is therefore accepted as fine or pure silver, and is the most common type of silver found in investment bullion.
Silver can be found across many geographies, but approximately 56% of the world's silver production is found in the Americas, with Mexico, Peru, and Chile supplying 43%. Outside of the Americas, China, Australia, and Russia combine to make up nearly 25% of the world's production.
It's important to clear all computer data before selling your system. It's not enough just to clean your cache and delete your files, however. Even a standard wipe of your hard drive may not be enough. Forensic software is getting better all the time and can recover data even on a computer that has been cleared.
If the LCD screen is damaged or the mercury lamp is separated from the screen, it must be disposed of properly. Mercury is also marked as Hazardous Waste by the EPA. Polyvinyl Chloride, more commonly known as PVC, is a type of plastic found numerous places, including electronics in the form of wire covering and tubing.