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Gold mine!!! — Parallax Forums

Gold mine!!!

Luis DigitalLuis Digital Posts: 371
edited 2011-07-26 15:12 in General Discussion
Hi,

The seller on eBay "robalatre" has several days selling lots of PCBs, to get gold.

Considering that a thin layer of gold, which also requires processing, and the auctions end with a high cost (sometimes), I think someone loses their money.

I've always thought that the best way is to reuse electronic waste, so see if there is something for you:
For example: Black light inverter
http://cgi.ebay.com/700-pcbs-43-lbs-GOLD-RECOVERY-GOLD-MINE-/140575183546?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20baef12ba

A few days ago I saw something like GPRS modems!

Comments

  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-07-09 16:03
    At current scrap prices around here, that's worth about $3.75 a pound... That box doesn't looks like 700 pounds.

    We ship motherboard scrap from our shop in 40lb boxes, so unless that's a refrigerator box, it doesn't look to scale.

    Edit - re-read the listing: DUH! 43lbs is about right. Value before shipping: $161.25

    OBC
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2011-07-09 20:56
    Luis Digital wrote: »
    Hi,

    The seller on eBay "robalatre" has several days selling lots of PCBs, to get gold.

    Let the buyer beware. It isn't as easy or profitable as you think:

    http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/550-gold-motherboard-chemistry.html

    All they got for their effort was gold the size of a bb (not even the size of a pellet).
  • Luis DigitalLuis Digital Posts: 371
    edited 2011-07-10 08:05
    The amount of gold recovered is good, because only used part of the resources of the motherboard: missing to open the chips to use thin wires that are inside or the gold that covers the tracks of the PCB.

    I still think the best way is to reuse things, the process to get that gold is very dirty, and expensive.

    Thanks for the link, it was very educational.
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,452
    edited 2011-07-10 09:08
    Another caveat -- there was a period in the mid 1970's when a lot of "gold" electronic contacts were actually gold filled. They contain a lot more gold than modern plated contacts do, but only about 5% by total weight.
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,935
    edited 2011-07-10 23:30
    That plating looks like a process called gold flash, so 30 micron plating. Not worth the processing cost in any sense.
  • Luis DigitalLuis Digital Posts: 371
    edited 2011-07-26 15:12
    Another lot having of interesting things:
    http://cgi.ebay.com/20-lbs-THOUSANDS-4-5-RF-RADIO-PCBS-GOLD-/140582082227?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20bb5856b3

    The question is why these boards were rejected?
    - Defective?
    - Economic crisis?

    Someday we will see 20 pounds of Propeller protoboards? :-D
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