Gold remains one of the most expensive and desired noble metals in the world. Its worth keeps increasing! The metal is used for example in the production of electronic devices and appliances and can be recovered in the recycling process. How much gold is there in a computer or smartphone? How can you recover gold from electronics, and is it legal?
What can you recover gold from?
It is no secret that electronics we use on a daily basis contain the precious metal. What electronics contain gold? You can find it in:
- computers and laptops (it is possible to recover gold from motherboards, contacts, CPUs etc.),
- smartphones and older generation phones,
- VCRs,
- sound systems and
- semi-conductors.
As discarded electrical and electronic equipment is collected, noble metals in electronics are recycled and reused in many different ways. It is also possible to recover gold from gold-plated elements, from CPUs or even from a clothes iron!
Few people realize what devices contain gold and place them where they should not, e.g., in mixed waste containers, without thinking. This applies to appliances such as TV sets, a variety of film players, washing machines and small handheld devices, hair dryers and power tools.
Recovery of gold from electronics – how is it done?
How is gold recovered from electronics? How do you recover gold from electronics at home? The recycling process for this noble metal is not difficult, but it is highly time-consuming and dangerous. It is advisable to send waste electrical and electronic equipment to a specialised company that recovers gold from electronics step by step fast, professionally and in line with applicable laws.
Where is gold located in a computer? Recovery of gold from computer parts
The issue of the recovery of gold from computers has been very popular with both private individuals and owners of metal collection centres in recent years. In fact, computer parts contain the most gold. It is possible to recover gold from computer boards; it is also possible to extract gold from motherboards, integrated circuits, contacts, pins and printed circuit boards.
And how is gold recovered from a computer? To this end, an experienced lab technician, who knows how to extract gold from the CPU safely, first needs to dismantle metal elements and then carry out multi-step tedious separation and filtration of the metal. The gold extraction process uses strong (hydrochloric, nitric) acids – thus it is not a good idea to recover gold at home. Caustic acids may cause burning and poisoning dangerous for one’s health, if used incompetently.
How much gold can one recover from a computer or laptop?
Is discarded electrical/electronic equipment worth anything at all? How many grams of gold are there in the computer or laptop? Well, it certainly depends on the specific model and the solutions used. 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.
Recover of gold from mobile phones
Where is gold located in a phone? How is it extracted and does it pay off? Note that the small mobile devices contain relatively low amounts of the noble metal. Parting of gold from electronics and mobile phones is cost-ineffective, unless the discarded material weighs more than one ton! Discarded electrical and electronic equipment is treated by specialised companies, that recover gold from mobiles legally and extensively.
How is gold extracted from the mobile phone?
People who have gathered some time-worn smartphones often search the Internet for information on recovering gold from mobiles and on the amount of gold in a phone. A single device contains thousandths of a milligram of gold – it is entirely unprofitable to process one or more phones. Gold may only be recovered from electronic parts after metals are carefully separated from plastic elements, which requires appropriate facilities and chemical expertise.
It is legal to recover gold in Poland? Recycling of gold from electronics in the light of law
If one looks for answers to the question: where can you sell gold from electronics? in a search engine, you will get many results concerning mints and e-waste collection centres. Before you decide to recover gold at home in order to sell the raw material, you should better learn the relevant laws. Can anyone extract gold from electronics?
In Poland, it is illegal to recover noble metals from electronics. The law provides for penalties for individuals who extract and recover gold from electronic equipment, computer parts, components, etc., on their own. Authorised companies carry out professional and legal chemical extraction of gold from computers; they act in line with the Waste Act and pursuant to the applicable geological and mining law.
FAQs
What electronics contain the most gold? Recovery of noble metals from electronics - PCC Group Product Portal? ›
CPUs have a high content of gold – it could be as much as 0.2 g to 0.5 g!
What electronics use the most gold? ›Electronics processes, where gold is used
Perhaps one of the largest users of gold in the electronics industry is in plating connectors and contacts.
Gold – Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips (CPU), connectors / fingers. Silver – Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips, keyboard membranes, some capacitors. Platinum – Hard Drives, Circuit board components.
How do you extract gold from cell phone circuit boards? ›- Collect your scraps. In phones, most of the gold is in the SIM card, the main board and the smaller components on the back of the LCD screen. ...
- Strip out the boards. Place your circuit boards in a glass vessel. ...
- Collect the flakes. Pour the mixture through a coffee filter and into another glass container. ...
- Melt the gold.
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.
Which electronics have the highest gold recovery? ›In fact, computer parts contain the most gold. It is possible to recover gold from computer boards; it is also possible to extract gold from motherboards, integrated circuits, contacts, pins and printed circuit boards.
Can you burn circuit boards for gold? ›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.
Palladium is employed as an electrode material in multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). These components can be easily removed from PCBs by de-soldering. As palladium is alloyed with silver, its dissolution is readily achieved using dilute nitric acid.
How do you extract gold from circuit boards? ›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 do you extract gold from electronics fast? ›To extract gold from electronics at home, get yourself a device that can separate the pure gold wire. The easiest way to do it is by using a centrifuge machine. It separates all types of materials via different densities and weights at high speed with a low damage rate on each material.
What does peroxide do to gold? ›
Hydrogen peroxide is most effective to clean jewelry base metal with. It is safe to apply on metals like gold and silver and won't harm them as long as it is used gently. It successfully extracts the fat deposits that have accumulated on the jewelry due to environmental factors.
How do you make gold stripping powder? ›A dry powder composition for stripping gold and silver contains 78.0-95.0 percent of a soluble cyanide compound, 0.01-5.0 percent of a soluble lithium compound, 0.01-0.5 percent of a soluble lead or bismuth compound as an auxiliary agent, and 5.0-22.0 percent of a water soluble ring-substituted nitrobenzene acid ...
What is gold most commonly found in? ›Oceans are the greatest single reservoir of gold at Earth's surface, containing approximately eight times the total quantity of gold mined to date.
Is there any gold in a microwave? ›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.
What product uses the most gold? ›Gold Jewelry: The most important consumptive use of gold in the world and in the United States is jewelry manufacturing. Approximately half of all gold mined is used in jewelry.
What electronics have the most precious metals? ›- Gold – Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips (CPU), connectors/fingers.
- Silver – Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips, keyboard membranes, some capacitors.
- Platinum – Hard Drives, Circuit board components.
- Palladium – Hard Drives, Circuit board components (capacitors)
Recycling waste multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) is significant for environmental protection and resource recovery, which contain rich precious metals including palladium and silver.
Is there gold in a hard drive? ›All hard drives contain precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and Palladium. While they contain precious metals in very little amount, they still have a value.
What circuit board has the most gold? ›Motherboards and printed circuit boards - The motherboard in particular is often the best potential source of gold in computers. The edges of most components on the board will have gold contacts and connectors where the wires slide in.
What circuit board components contain palladium? ›According to the International Platinum Group Metals Association, in the electronics sector, most palladium is used for multi-layer ceramic (chip) capacitors (MLCC).
How much gold is in a pound of circuit boards? ›
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.
What capacitors have palladium? ›PGM ceramic capacitors are those capacitors with electrodes made from platinum group metals, which means they contain palladium.
What household items have palladium? ›Palladium is often used in cell phone and laptop components, and it's also found in ceramic capacitors having multiple layers. Due to the metal's high level of conductivity, manufacturers commonly include it in the connector plates of a variety of electronic products.
What objects can you find palladium in? ›Palladium jewelry items: This can include rings, chains, bracelets, jewelry scrap. Palladium catalysts: Palladium can be found in automotive catalysts, industrial catalysts, palladium foil catalysts, petroleum refining catalysts. Palladium resins: These are chemicals used in manufacturing processes.
How many grams of gold are in a circuit board? ›On average, 1000 kg of circuit board results in 1500 gm (1.5 kg) of Gold. This is 40 to 800 times more concentration compared to Gold Ore Mines. Smelters are used to extract Gold and other metals from computers. Circuits in modern CPUs and Laptops weigh around 100 gm so you can expect to extract 0.150 grams of Gold.
What parts are gold in a computer? ›Few consumers of laptop computers and desktops know the interior of their electronic devices have a considerable amount of gold content. You can find thin layers of gold plating and gold pins in computer components, such as memory chips, central processing units, circuit boards, and other components as well.
What chemicals do you need for gold recovery? ›What Chemical Acids Do You Need For Gold Recovery? The most useful mixture of acids for dissolving gold is aqua regia, composed of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid (aquafortis). The aqua regia is formed by mixing 425ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid 37% and 150 ml of concentrated nitric acid 70%.
Do all circuit boards have gold? ›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.
What is powerful enough to dissolve gold? ›As is well known, aqua regia (a mixture of three parts hydrochloric acid to one part nitric acid) can dissolve gold.
What does baking soda do to gold? ›Gold-plated serving pieces
Because gold is a soft metal, it is easily scratched even with a light abrasive like baking soda.
Will bleach turn gold? ›
We were reminded this earlier in February that many people aren't aware of the damage bleach and chlorine can cause to gold. Both cause a chemical reaction that disintegrates the alloys in the jewelry over time. (Nearly all gold jewelry is alloyed, because pure gold is too soft on its own.)
Does vinegar strip gold? ›The acid in white vinegar breaks down many chemicals, but it won't break down gold.
What's the best way to separate gold from dirt? ›Panning. Panning uses water to separate heavy gold particles from other lighter particles within a medium sized pan. In this process sediment or ore thought to contain gold is placed in a wide, curved pan along with water. The miner moves the pan in a series of motions designed to eject lighter sediments.
How do you make pure gold paste? ›“Pure gold is melted at high temperature and added with impurities. Later the solution is died and made into a paste. Once smuggled, the paste is converted into powder form and then it washed with chemical solutions which allow the gold to be extracted,” he said. The entire process can take around 9 to 12 hours.
What produces the most gold? ›In 2022, China's mines produced an estimated 330 metric tons of gold. China is the largest gold producer in the world.
Where are the top three places where gold is found? ›South Africa and the US host two each of the world's ten largest gold mines, while Indonesia, Russia, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Australia, and the Dominican Republic house the remaining. South Deep gold mine in South Africa has the largest gold deposits in the world.
What rock has the most gold? ›The gold that appears in quartz is almost universally native, meaning that it's in a metallic form contained in the crystalline quartz. It's universally considered the richest of the gold ores out there. The proper term for quartz that contains gold is auriferous quartz.
Where can I find platinum in everyday items? ›Platinum has often been used in cigarette boxes, lighter cases, cigarette and cigar holders, cigar cutters, and other smoking accessories. Now that smoking is becoming less popular, a number of these items are “washing back” onto the marketplace.
Is there gold in TV remote? ›Remotes contain only a few cents' worth of gold that can be found on the edges of the printed circuit boards they contain. But if you do the math, you'll see that a few hundred remotes can be worth more money than you suspect.
What everyday items contain silver? ›It is used for jewellery and silver tableware, where appearance is important. Silver is used to make mirrors, as it is the best reflector of visible light known, although it does tarnish with time. It is also used in dental alloys, solder and brazing alloys, electrical contacts and batteries.
What is the highest gold content? ›
Pure gold is notated as 24K – this is the highest karat level for gold meaning it is 100% pure gold. 18K gold is 75% purity level, 14K is 58.3% purity level, and 10K is 41.7% purity level. As you can see, the higher the karat number, the more pure gold comprises the metal.
Is there gold in a flat screen TV? ›A television contains copper, quartz, iron, gold, platinum, and silver in its parts.
Is it worth recovering gold from computer parts? ›While extracting gold from electronic components may not sound like an easy task, when done at a large scale, recycling computers and laptops to extract gold and silver can be very profitable, especially when you are paying next to nothing for electronic scrap.
How much gold is in an old TV? ›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.
How much gold is in a TV circuit board? ›Valuable metals beneath your fingertips
A metric ton of electronic waste contains 8 to 16 ounces of gold - a considerably profitable scenario if you have the means to properly recover the gold in a pure form. In addition to gold, other metals like lead and copper are common in electronic waste.
This is a rich form of chemical mixture of chlorine and gold and can have about one ounce of gold if you undertake this procedure carefully.
What electronics have the most palladium? ›Palladium is contained in most microprocessors and printed circuit boards. Platinum is used to make fiberglass, liquid-crystal display (LCD) glass and flat-panel displays, and cathode ray tubes.
Which capacitors contain palladium? ›PGM ceramic capacitors are those capacitors with electrodes made from platinum group metals, which means they contain palladium.
How much gold is in a SIM card? ›Gold is used in the manufacturing of SIM cards due to it being a very excellent conductor of electricity. Other than this, it is also very durable. However, each SIM card contains very little amount of gold, and you need thousands of SIM cards to be able to extract a few grams of gold.
How do you get gold off circuit boards? ›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.
What channel is gold on a smart TV? ›
That's TV Gold will broadcast 24 hours per day on Sky (channel 187) and on Freeview (channel 91).
What TV number is gold? ›About That's TV Gold
That's TV Gold launched on Sky and Freeview in July 2021 and will broadcast 24 hours per day on Freesat channel 187.
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.