In my travels along the dusty Information Super Highway (or cyber space) all of which mean simply “the internet,” I came across a method of mining gold from electronic component parts. It seems that jewelry is not the only way for precious metal collectors (in this case gold collectors) to collect gold; wearable jewelry (earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings) of course are the most accessible and easiest way to collect gold or silver pieces, whether you collect precious metals for your collection, or for resale. Mining electronic component parts is another, slightly harder way to collect gold that is also a little more labor intensive but in the long run could lead to profit.
The electronic parts I am talking about come from discarded and no longer useable electronic circuit boards, more specifically the computer circuit board connectors, the gold is usually found where the circuit-board connects to a matching socket on the circuit board. Gold plating is used at these points because gold is an excellent current conductor, and gold also resists corrosion, a condition that is a real show stopper when it comes to electronic current flow, circuit resistance, and proper circuit operation. You will find some video information at the end of this article that will go into more specific detail about extracting the gold on circuit board connectors from no longer useful computer circuit boards; a word of caution.

Extracting gold from electronic components requires the use of chemicals, and chemicals can definitely change the equation if the chemicals necessary are mishandled. I am a believer is safety so this process of gold extraction should be looked at more as informational, and not as instructional. Meaning that if after reading about this process you decide you want to try reclaiming gold from electronic parts proper instructions should be sought, along with the reading and understanding of the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) for the chemicals involved. The, caution part, mean this process may not be for everyone, people with small children, or maybe a clumsy pet.

If you decide to give this method of collecting gold a try I suggest you take great care in reading and researching, the MSDS for Muriatic Acid/hydrochloride, and Hydrogen peroxide, the two chemicals involved. Wear the proper safety equipment (face, hand, and eye protection) try not to work indoors and follow all recommended disposal instruction for the equipment and materials used. I have not done this before so, for me, I’m sure perhaps a space suit would be necessary.

Tools required are usually, some-sort of wire cutter, or tin snip for cutting away the connector part containing the gold bits on the circuit board, a small squeeze or spray bottle of H20 (water), a tempered glass container (old glass coffee pot). Remove or make sure there is no electronic solder on the circuit board, the only two metal sources you want in the chemical solution are copper and its gold plating. After you remove the connector gold fingers, as they are referred to by the electronic pros, they are soaked in the 200ml Muriatic Acid, 100ml Hydrogen Peroxide mixture for a day or so.
The chemical mixture dissolves the copper, indicated by and emerald green color to the chemical solution when the copper is being dissolved, and separates and allows the gold plating foils strips to float free in the chemical solution. Use of a paper strainer can be used to separate the gold flakes from the solution. Allow them to dry, then brush the remaining gold flakes into a plastic bag.

I guess any kind of mining for precious metals, including this one, involves hard and sometimes dangerous work, whether you are panning for gold, the good old prospector’s way, or recycling computer parts for the good of humanity and the environment. To me this would be the hard way since I am often near my grand-kids, and my animal (an over active dog) is very clumsy so at least in my case there would be high probability of a major chemical spill. Your situation may be different than my own grand-kid-wise, you might even be lucky enough to have a very well-trained-well-coordinated-pet. This method of reclaiming gold is just one more way of collecting precious metals that for some gold and silver collectors may sound appealing.

The process is really kind of neat and can leave you with a small amount of unrefined gold flakes, the internet if full of scrapper, and reclaiming videos that go into even more detail about not only extraction, but the gold refining process too. The process works with not only electronic parts it also works with items that have a gold trip so save grandma’s broken gold inlay pieces, that gold trim just might still be reclaimable. If chemicals are not for you there is another kind of mining I do that involves my Goodwill store.

Since I began shopping at Goodwill online whenever an object of interest gets my attention I have noticed that, just like visiting my local Goodwill store in person, Goodwill is great at gathering together and packaging jewelry in plastic bags and selling the entire sack for a few bucks. I paid $9.00 for a bag of jewelry online, that with shipping came to a total of $18.00, and about $25.00 for a bag of mixed jewelry at my local Goodwill store. While mining my Goodwill jewelry bag I found one white gold chain and one small diamond necklace plus I even developed my own recovery process when it comes to mining a bag of jewelry with regard to cleaning and making jewelry pieces sparkle again. Untangling chain, and sifting through jewelry pieces so far haven’t netted me any major jewelry finds but I have to admit it is kind of a fun way to spend my time.

Whatever method of mining precious metals you choose have fun doing it, “safe” fun, I don’t have a video about my Goodwill method of mining, but here’s the video for mining electronic circuit boards.

Refining gold-foil process