How to get gold from radio parts?

Gold is practically incomparable material. It has unique properties, due to which it is widely used not only for the manufacture of jewelry products, but also in various industries. In the past, gold was often used in radio components. Therefore, many are now trying to get additional income by extracting the noble metal from electronics. How to do this correctly and safely - you can find out by reading this article.

First you need to know exactly where and how to extract gold. In order for such “production” to be more effective, it is necessary to study from which elements of the radio equipment it is possible to extract the maximum volume. For these purposes, there are catalogs of radio components that indicate the amount of gold. You can also find out by examining the passports for the radio equipment. And further on, their efforts should be directed towards the search for precisely such gold-containing products.

It does not require huge expenses and specific knowledge, you only need to have electronic equipment containing gold, chemicals and time for painstaking work. But in this case there is a small feature. Precious metals can only be bought by specialized organizations and enterprises. So, before organizing large-scale gold mining and sales, it is worth examining the legal acts in order to understand whether it is legal or not in your country, whether there will be problems with law enforcement agencies in the future.

Many people wonder why this noble metal was so widely used to cover parts in the electronics industry. For example, silver is cheaper and has better electrical conductivity as well as lower electrical resistance. The answer lies on the surface: the ability to oxidize in gold is much lower than that of silver, and this allows it to serve in devices for a longer time.

Attention should be paid to domestic electronics, released before 1985-86. At that time, the amount of gold used to cover the radio components was decent.

Surely, many in the garages, attics and pantries store old equipment, maybe even working equipment, which is a pity to throw away. In these Soviet devices: televisions, tape recorders, radios, there are many radio components that have gold in their composition. It cannot be said that it is not in the details of foreign manufacturers, it is present there, but only in very small quantities.

An approximate list of gold-containing elements of radio equipment:

• transistors, quite a lot of precious metal is in the CT series;
• microcircuits;
• sockets of the Soviet period were covered with a small layer of gold;
• radio tubes, you can find other precious elements in them;
• diodes.

AND the closest attention should be paid to capacitors - from them you can get up to 8 grams of gold. But since they were most often used in the military sphere, it is very difficult to meet them. Also, a little metal can be found in modern products, for example, in motherboards (and the older they are, the more gold there is), in SIM cards for phones and memory modules.

As already mentioned, in order to separate gold from radio components at home, it will take time, chemicals, parts containing this precious metal, a separate room with good ventilation and some skill. Gold can be smelted in various ways, but two of the most effective and proven are chemical (refining it) and physical (electrolysis). The first option is easier and more affordable, since getting chemicals is easier than finding or making a bath for electrolysis. And in terms of financial costs, it is much more profitable, but more dangerous to health.

To obtain gold from radio components and to separate it from other metals, we need a very strong oxidizing agent. These can be cyanides, but their large concentration is very dangerous for health, therefore they are used only in specialized institutions. For independent refining, a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid is ideally suited; popularly, this solution is called “aqua regia”.

It is required to strictly follow the step by step instructions.

1. We disassemble the radio components, as far as possible remove components that do not contain precious metals. To improve the process, you can grind the remaining elements.
2. We get rid of organic substances by burning parts.
3. Open windows or turn on ventilation in the room.
4. We prepare the solution by mixing hydrochloric and nitric acid (1: 3 ratio) in a special bowl. The mixture must be prepared immediately before use.
5. Dip the prepared parts into the ready-made solution, heat it on an electric stove and leave it for a maximum of 6 hours. It takes so much time for the metal to dissolve and precipitate. The volume of "royal vodka" should average 3 times the weight of gold-containing materials.
6. After gold dissolves in the liquid, it falls to the bottom of the tank in the form of small, almost imperceptible particles. To isolate the precious metal from the solution, you will need to add 0.5% hydroquinone to it. It is prepared like this - 5 grams per 100 grams of water.
7. The prepared liquid is very carefully added to the acid solution (1 ml of solution per 100 ml of acid).After which we mix everything and wait another 4 hours.
8. As a result of these actions, a precipitate with gold should fall to the bottom of the dishes. The liquid part of the mixture is drained, and the remaining part is evaporated and dried.
9. We melt precious metal from the dry mixture, it is better to do this in a special crucible (this minimizes losses) using a burner.

If you have enough time, you can use the method of processing without heating. However, this will take about 7 days. Gold-containing components are immersed in a solution that consists of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a ratio of 2: 1. The fluid must be mixed daily. In a week, the gold will separate. After this, the solution must be filtered and the precipitate washed with methyl alcohol. The precipitate obtained, as in the previous case, needs to be dried and then melted.

The battery electrolyte used in such cases is also an acid, although it may not all know.

Another non-thermal option for which you need to have a special tank is gold chloride and hydrochloric acid.

For a reaction to occur, a direct current must be connected to the cathode and anode. Then just gently remove the finished metal from the cathode. All methods of mining precious metals at home can lead to a loss of about 10% of the volume of gold, and it does not always turn out to be clean. Additional cleaning will also be required, also leading to a decrease in the amount of metal.

You need to understand that the extraction of gold using concentrated acids is a rather dangerous process, and in order to maintain health, safety measures must be observed during these works. After all even a small amount of acid that gets on the skin can cause a severe chemical burn, and fetid fumes can affect the respiratory system and vision. To avoid this, you need to work in protective gloves and glasses to save eyes and skin. And the best thing is to have a complete set of protective clothing.

If acid gets on the skin, first aid is urgently needed. The affected area is washed under running water for at least 15 minutes. After that, a soda compress is made from a 2% soda solution for 10 minutes. Then the compress is removed, the skin is wiped dry. After these events, you need to visit a doctor.

The room in which the refining process takes place must be well ventilated or have an excellent ventilation system.

In that case, when the solution has spilled, it is necessary to fill this place with sand, then remove it and throw it away. After cleaning, this part of the floor covering must then be treated with a soda solution and washed with clean water.

As you can see Obtaining gold from radio components is a profitable business, although complex and time-consuming. You will have to spend a lot of energy searching for materials containing precious metal, reagents, a suitable place, etc. And again, do not forget about the health risks associated with this activity, and possible criminal overtones. Both can be prevented by studying the instructions for working with chemicals and relevant laws.

The following video shows the process of getting gold from electronic circuit boards at home.