Experiment: Can You Mine Gold From Old Motherboards?
Experiment: Can You Mine Gold From Old Motherboards?Principally used in jewelry, gold (chemical symbol Au) is also used generally in manufacturing (and by the electronics and computer industries in particular) due to its excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, resistance to oxidation, and inalterability. The computer industry uses several hundred tons (318 tons in 2003, for example) of the element every year.
The precious metal is found in almost all computer components--processors, motherboards, extension cards, memory DIMMs, and so on. Of course, the amounts used in each part are infinitesimal. But with the price of gold skyrocketing in recent years, it’s becoming more and more economically-viable to recover gold from old electronic and computer components than to mine it. That’s why specialized companies have sprung up to do just that.
Today, we're going to show you how we recovered the gold from old motherboards using do-it-yourself methods. Please note: The chemicals used in this demonstration are extremely dangerous, especially in the concentrations used. Therefore, we strongly discourage you from attempting to reproduce this experiment at home.
what will you do with the ball of gold? would make a cool giveaway
There is, right on the first page ;-)
what will you do with the ball of gold? would make a cool giveaway
There is, right on the first page ;-)
Homemade process? where does someone find 95% concentrated sulfuric acid for home use? I've read cockroaches can swim in sulfuric acid and have always wanted to test that
1. Fume hood (which the author obviously didn't use)
2. Chemical gloves (which he did have)
3. Chemical-resistant apron (which he didn't use)
4. Full face shield (we didn't see his face)
5. Closed-toe shoes or boots (we didn't see his feet)
6. Emergency eye wash and emergency shower (we didn't see these)
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So basically, it's a "don't try this at anything less than a university lab" type of procedure.
I would imagine the older mobos and peripherals would have had more gold deposited on contacts than newer ones.
The price of gold was much lower in the past for a start.
I am thinking those Russian X86 clone CPU's would have been a great source of gold, along with high end Mil Spec components.
The inside of older Klystrons and other microwave devices would have also been a good source.
Mil Spec Cannon connectors ... other avionics components and cabling.
Great article Yannick.
Though just for an idea on the scale of things...
Gold was worth ~$450 per troy ounce in 2005.
There are ~29,167 troy ounces per ton.
318 tons of gold equates to $4,173,797,700.
4 trillion dollars in a single year, back in 2005.
With gold closing at $1185, and growth in the electronics industry, can you imagine what kind of numbers are involved in this year?