I have a bunch of old computers laying around. I've recently heard that most computers hold some amounts of silver, gold, and definitely copper. My question here is, how do you find where the gold/silver/copper is located, and is there an easy way to get it out or extract it? Although this may be a miniscule amount, I'm still quite interested in this find. Any help relating to this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
I'm right with you on that idea. This article might shed some light... http://www.ehow.com/how_4674637_refine-gold-electronic-scrap.html#ixzz0wxoP1V00
Thanks gothica. I'm going to look over that article now. I appreciate it. Do you personally have experience in doing things of this sort? Or is it something you just recently thought about making a project as well?
There is a lot of work and a lot of risk for bodily harm involved in this process. If you decide to undertake it, be very careful. Despite the possible gains, I have sided with caution and just scrap my old electronics.
Have to agree with that. There is a lot of Cadmium and Lithium in some of the computer parts, which can be quite harmful even if taken in very small quantities. The gain is simply not worth the risk.
Thanks for that pieces of advice. I really have no knowledge regarding this, it was just something I heard about and it piqued my interest. I really do appreciate you letting me the negatives as well, as I have not heard anything about them before both of your posts.
Me too don't have that great knowledge about computer parts. If you decide to dismantle a computer, then be careful about the following hazards: 1. Cadmium is present in most of the wires and cables. 2. Beryllium compounds are present in the motherboard as well as in some of the connectors. 3. Mercury is present in switches and relays. 4. Mercury and lead are present in the circuit boards.
I know a place that pays $1/pound for computer circuit boards. I have been paid $10 for my computer parts. Here is the link - CLICK HERE They send the money via mailed check. I hope that helps you Sky9Media! Chris
I do appreciate the idea behind that tbirdzig, but I was mainly looking for a source of obtaining more gold/silver for my own personal collect rather than finding ways to make money from computer scraps. Do appreciate it though, that's a good thing to know.
Sky, no I have not tried to do this. But maybe one day I'll experiment with my old iPhone, lol. This article says that they contain "... 0.034 grams of gold, 16 grams of copper, 0.35 grams of silver and and 0.00034 grams of platinum." http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/13/technology/iphone_trade_in/index.htm
Another great article. Thanks for the share. I figured iPhones and old cellular phones had metal content in them, and I figured it wasn't that much. I guess I really didn't consider the amount of volume those buy-back companies do though, because that's ridiculous. Enough copper to build 2 statue of liberty's? I mean jeez.
This is very interesting.Even though i knew that some small amount of gold ,copper etc are present in electronic goods I had never thought that we can extract from it. Thanks Gothica for the link. The process seems to be complicated and can also harm the person if he is not careful enough. I will surely try one day.
