Circuit boards within electronic devices contain small amounts of gold in their connections due to its conductivity properties, among others. Many people and companies dispose of these equipment with circuit boards inside, while other companies and individuals carry out gold recovery from circuit boards activities.
Gold is an important element in the design of printed circuit boards, and looking closely at most PCBs will reveal that the 'fingers' on the board include metal contacts fabricated from gold.
How much is in an average desktop? 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.
Memory Chips. These little circuit boards, about half the size of a packet of artificial sweetener, have been plugged into many computers to increase their RAM. They usually contain a small number of gold-plated pins and a small quantity of gold on their surfaces.
Despite these challenges, the extraction of gold from electronics can be worth it for individuals looking to recover valuable metals and reduce e-waste. Additionally, gold prices are constantly increasing, making it an attractive investment for those looking to extract gold from electronics.
Strip out the boards
In another container, mix two parts hydrochloric acid and one part weak hydrogen peroxide (a concentration of three per cent). Pour this mixture over the circuit boards so they are completely submerged. Wait for a week, giving the vessel a stir every day with a glass or plastic rod.
Desktop Computer
It sounds simple enough: just take out some of the shiny components, ship them to authorized gold refiners, and wait to get paid. The largest circuit board in both laptops and desktops, the motherboard, is the part where the most gold can be found. Their edges have gold contacts.
The processors and connectors in computers, tablets, and smartphones use gold. You can also find gold in televisions, gaming consoles, printers, or essentially anything electronic.
Pour nitric acid into the glass container over the circuit boards. Stir the mixture with the glass or metal rod until the contents become a uniform fluid. Once the gold has separated from the plates — it may take some time — strain the nitric acid from the mix using the filter. Take out the pieces that aren't melted.
How much gold is in a computer hard drive? It is possible to find gold plating in small traces, not only in hard drives, RAM memory sticks, but in many other components of desktop or laptop computers. The exact amount can vary around 0.3 gram of gold worth around $20.
PCB Gold Finger Beveling
Nickel plating: Between three and six microns of nickel are plated first to the connector edges of the fingers. Gold plating: Between one and two microns of hard gold are plated over the nickel.
CPUs have a high content of gold – it could be as much as 0.2 g to 0.5 g! Melting and processing of parts from several devices yield up to 1–2 g of gold.
In Australia, the current price of gold is 2,946.68 Australian dollar per ounce. The price of gold per gram is 94.74 Australian dollar.
The current gold price of 100 Gram in Australia is A$9,358.12 (Australian dollar). This is based on the current spot market value of gold and the specific purity level of 24k.
Removing Gold Using Fire
Use steel tongs to turn over the burning circuit boards. Get a metal bin or tray, and put the circuit boards into it. Break the boards into smaller pieces so they burn faster. Light the boards on fire.
Gold-bearing circuit boards are increasingly used in appliances like microwaves, air conditioners, refrigerators, and kitchen stoves. A good rule of thumb is: The more technological features that an appliance has, the more likely it is to contain small amounts of gold.
It's true there's often silver, platinum, palladium and gold in our damaged or outmoded electronics, not to mention plastic, glass and other materials that have some scrap value. The primary reason is that precious metals conduct electricity much better than alloys.
The main component of a SIM card is the electronic chip made from Silicon with some added impurities such as phosphorous . It is plated with metals such as Gold to form outer layer which makes contact with your mobile phone. This chip is housed inside a shell made from plastic. 1,000 SIM Card Approx Contains 1 gm Gold.
TVs usually contain a very small amount of gold that might amount to about $1.00 or less in value. It can be quite a lot of work to get to the gold inside your TV as well.
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.