How can you extract gold from radio components? Review of 9 proven methods

Since ancient times, gold has always had the highest value. This precious metal acts not only as a guarantor of currency, but also as various types of jewelry that show the status of its owner.

That is why gold rings, chains, earrings, bracelets, etc. are the most luxurious and desirable gift. However, not many people think that gold can be used to create technology, in particular radio components.

This article will introduce you to such interesting information and answer the question: how to extract gold from radio components?

What parts contain gold?

Both silver and gold can be equally used to coat radio components. But despite the greater electrical conductivity of silver and the lower degree of electrical resistance of silver, manufacturers prefer gold. This is due to the fact that this precious metal oxidizes much more slowly, which allows the parts to serve for many years.

Foreign manufacturers also use gold to coat microcircuits, but if you are wondering about this, the answer is that in domestic technology you can get much more gold from radio components.

It is worth noting here that a higher percentage of gold content is found in Soviet-made radio components. Surely you have old parts lying around in the basement, attic or mezzanine that you always felt a pity to throw away. This is where they come in handy.

So, in Soviet electronics: televisions, tape recorders, radios, almost all radio components contained gold in one way or another. What parts are gold plated and where can I get them?

1. Transistors whose gold content is located under the crystal and conductor, sometimes on the legs. Basically, these are transistors of the KT series (101,103, 117, 603, 613, etc.).
2. Gold can also be mined from microcircuits, because... the precious metal was deposited by galvanic means, i.e. coating one metal with another through the action of electric current.
3. Connectors made during the Soviet period are also coated with a layer of gold several microns thick.
4. Radio tubes, in addition to gold, they may also contain silver, platinum, tantalum (models: 12P17L, 6V1P, 6Zh1P-EV, GMI-11, etc.) A more detailed description of radio tubes can be found in specialized literature. One cannot help but mention the radio tubes of the GMI series; in some models the weight of pure gold can reach 16 grams.
5. In semiconductors, in particular, in D-series diodes, LEDs, zener diodes, thyristors, etc. there is gold in small quantities.
6. Capacitors contain the largest amount of gold, but only those that were used only for the construction of military equipment, and of the old type.
7. Microparticles of gold are also contained in modern parts, for example, in SIM cards.
8. In the manufacture of metal wristwatches in the USSR, the precious metal acted as a coating for the case.
9. Computer parts also consist of gold elements: processors, connectors on motherboards, etc. It is important to know that gold extraction will be successful if the computer is “older”, because it contains more precious metal.

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What radio components contain gold?

The KT series transistor contains a precious metal alloy

There are many such radio components. Foreign parts use this metal in a similar way, but in smaller quantities. Basic information about the radio components included in a particular unit is contained in the device passport. Information on precious metals can also be found in specialized reference books on radio engineering.

The precious metal is contained in such microcircuits and radio components as:

• KT series transistors (117, 630, 312, 602, 603, 605, 608, 3102, 844A, 911, 920, 2T907);
• microcircuits 133, 155 series;
• diodes type D226.

"Royal vodka" as a way to extract gold from radio components

Gold in radio components is not contained in its pure form, but along with many other metals and alloys. Therefore, the first priority is to separate the necessary metal from the unnecessary ones. There are several methods for this, some can be used to extract gold from radio components at home, however, it is worth remembering that this is a very labor-intensive and hazardous process.

The most popular method for extracting precious metal from various radio components is the use of “aqua regia”. This is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids in a ratio of 3 to 1. The formula for “aqua regia” is: HNO3+3HCL=CL2+NOCL+2H2O.

This amazing acid can corrode metals, so you need to act extremely carefully and think through all the outcomes of the experiment in advance. All utensils used in this case must be glass.

The resulting liquid must be heated on an electric stove with radio components immersed in it, previously cleaned of unnecessary plastic and contaminants. For 1 gram of metal you need 3 ml of aqua regia. When heated, the metals will begin to dissolve, and the liquid itself will turn bright green due to the remaining metals dissolved in it.

Then the second process begins - the extraction of gold, which has dissolved in the “regia vodka”. Here you will need hydroquinone - 0.5%, which is mixed with water - 5 g. per 100 ml. The resulting liquid is carefully added dropwise to the acid - 1 ml. solution per 100 ml. acids. You need to carefully stir everything and leave it to brew for 3-4 hours.

After this, the sediment we need should remain at the bottom. The solution from above is eliminated, and the solution with the precipitate is evaporated and dried.

The resulting powder needs to be smelted into an ingot using no tricky techniques. This can be done using a heating crucible and borax, which saves the metal from the oxide film.

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Electrolysis

This method of extracting gold from radio components is recommended for use if gold is deposited on a part made of copper or its alloys, then you can use electrolysis. To do this, gold-containing radio components are placed in a solution of sulfuric or hydrochloric acid. The current density should be in the range of 0.1-1 A/dm2. When the current begins to drop, the reaction can be considered complete.

Sell ​​gold

Sometimes gold extracted from radio components turns out not to be yellow, but white or green.
There's no need to worry. This happens because gold contains impurities. For example, if gold contains 5% palladium, it will be white, and if it contains 30% silver, it will be green. If you don’t want to extract gold yourself, you can contact organizations that do this. In Moscow, it is very easy to hand over radio components, since today a huge number of services offer this service. ◄ Back to news

Method for extracting gold from radio components without heating

If you are puzzled by the question: how to extract gold without dangerous work? This method also works, however, it takes much longer, a week. Parts containing gold are dipped into a liquid that consists of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a ratio of 2 to 1.

In 7 days, gold is separated from other metals. Then you need to pass the solution through a filter, you can use a paper one, and wash the precipitate with methyl alcohol. The residue is also dried and melted into an ingot.

There are other methods for extracting precious metals, but they are much more complex and dangerous than those described above. Gold can also be obtained using electrolysis, sulfuric and hydrochloric acids.

All methods allow you to extract gold in a fairly pure form, however, trace elements of other alloys will still be present.

To get rid of unwanted particles, you need to carry out a procedure called refining. This is a more detailed and fine cleaning using acids, resulting in the extraction of pure gold.

How to extract precious metal?

How to extract gold from radio components and microcircuits at home? Getting a noble element is not so easy: you will need patience and knowledge of chemistry at least at an elementary level. It's worth starting with sorting. Parts of parts and microcircuits are sorted according to several principles. Weight, size and other properties must be taken into account.

Foreign metals - iron, lead - are removed from the surface of the elements. You should also get rid of plastic. The presence of foreign elements will cause the solution to quickly become contaminated and will have to be replaced. The fewer impurities in the solution, the purer the resulting gold will be.

The second stage in the etching process is the creation of a solvent. Since Au reacts reluctantly with acids and alkalis, it can only be dissolved in aqua regia - this is a mixture of concentrated hydrochloric and nitric acid, which is mixed in a ratio of 1 to 3.

It is better to prepare the solution in aluminum containers. There should be no cracks or damage on its surface - this will affect the quality of the reagent. To carry out etching, you should take a deep dish. The solution should cover the surface of the parts completely, but in such a way that there is still space left in the dish.

Etching occurs with the release of gas and an increase in the volume of liquid. Gases will form in the form of bubbles. Therefore, there must be space in the dishes. If you need to speed up the process, you can heat the solution.

Gold refining

Do not forget that gold, like other elements, dissolves in aqua regia. But the process is much slower. The solution is not prepared in advance, since it gradually loses its properties. The effect of aqua regia lasts 6 hours, but the longer the solution sits, the lower its effectiveness. The reaction may not take place if low-quality reagents were used in the process or the technology was violated. The chemical formula of aqua regia looks like this: HNO3 + 3HCl = Cl2 + NOCl + 2H2O.

After immersing the parts in the solution, you can notice how flakes of gold appear on its surface. After this, you need to strain the solution; you can use a thick cloth as a filter. The extraction of Au does not end there; to obtain a metal of higher quality, it is worth adding hydrazine to the solution at a rate of 1 to 5.

After adding hydrazine to the solvent, a separation reaction will begin: a brown mass, similar to rust, will begin to flake off - this is gold. You won’t be able to get a high-quality precious metal the first time; the procedure will have to be repeated 3-4 times.

After cleaning, the metal must be melted down, since the burner does not produce the required temperature. The crucible and alloy are treated with borax - it will help melt the precious metal into an ingot or pebble.

Disadvantages of this method:

• aqua regia is toxic and can harm human health, so the etching procedure should be carried out in special clothing and a well-ventilated area;
• even a small breath of air, which contains chlorine and nitrogen vapors, will cause a person to lose consciousness;
• during the reaction, chlorine and nitrogen gas are released;
• to obtain good quality metal, the procedure will have to be repeated several times;
• When etching is carried out, it is necessary to change the solution.

If the parts contain not only Au, but also platinum, then the reaction process can produce white gold. If Au is mixed with silver, the result is a green alloy. If iron is added to the element, the resulting gold will have a blue tint.

What hazards do chemical reactions and processes entail?

Naturally, you need to understand that any work with acids can have serious consequences.

For example, working with aqua regia, or rather the refining process where metals are dissolved, takes about six hours.

In this case, a strong release of nitric oxide occurs.

Therefore, in no case should such work be carried out in closed lighting; the windows must be open so that fresh air has a constant opportunity to enter the room.

One breath of poisoned air with oxides can cause a sudden and painful death, since doctors simply do not have time to provide first aid.

Precious metal quality

After the first procedure using aqua regia, there should be flakes of brown metal left, yes, this is gold, however, low-grade. To increase the purity and quality of gold, you need to repeat the purification process using acids.

During the Soviet period, radio components contained gold as well as copper, so purifying gold from copper takes a lot of time. But all these costs are worth it, since after refining, gold appears in its purest form - 999 purity.

Service life of gilding on products

Not only women, but also men love gold jewelry. But not everyone can afford to purchase a product made of pure gold. For such people, there are other jewelry that is less expensive. They are made of silver, but the gilding used for coating makes the product visually similar to gold.

If such jewelry is not examined in detail, it can easily be mistaken for real gold. A counterfeit can only be detected by cutting or using special chemical reagents. This is convenient for clients, but is it worth saving without knowing how long such decoration will last and whether it will lose its appearance over time?

Gold-plated products are in great demand due to their affordable price and visual resemblance to real gold. But if the wearing rules are not followed, the gilding can quickly wear out and will have to be restored.

Gold plated item

The service life of gilding directly depends on the owner - on how he will wear his jewelry and monitor its condition. There are several simple rules, the observance of which will allow you to preserve the gilding on jewelry for a long period of time:

• You should not sleep with gold-plated items on; before going to bed, it is better to remove them and put them in a box or on the nightstand.
• During physical labor, it is better to remove gold-plated jewelry. When interacting with sweat, the gilding is destroyed.
• There is no need to wear gold-plated jewelry on your hands when working with chemical elements. These are not necessarily aggressive substances used by chemists. Simple washing or washing dishes using special products has a detrimental effect on gold plating.
• It is also recommended to remove gold-plated rings when working with soil in the garden or with various materials that can scratch the top layer of the product. It must be remembered that gold-plated objects scratch faster than gold ones, and this is clearly visible on them.
• It is important to properly clean products when necessary. There are many methods that can be used at home. For example, soak it in beer for half an hour, and then rinse thoroughly in water. You can dilute detergent and ammonia in water and keep the jewelry in this solution. But it is important not to overexpose it, because ammonia corrodes the gold, and it is better to use it only if it is heavily soiled.

If these rules are followed, a gold-plated product can serve for many years without changing its appearance. It is better to wear it only when you are going to visit or receive guests. The rest of the time it is better to store it in a box.

But the service life of gilding also depends on the standard of the metal that is used for it. In Russia, a sample of 999 or 750 is used for this, less often 585. This is a fairly high sample that allows it to be preserved on the product for a long time. Foreign jewelry is covered with less high-grade material, so it lasts less.

The sample of silver from which the product itself is made also matters. If it is high, at least 925, and has 999 gold plated, then it will serve for a long time. In addition, the thickness of the gilding layer also plays an important role. The higher it is, the longer it will last. But the better the quality of the product, the more expensive it is.

Sometimes a piece of jewelry takes on an unattractive appearance due to half-erased gilding, but you don’t want to part with it. In this case, you can ask the master to restore the coating, and the product will sparkle again. But for some it may seem expensive, and it is more profitable to simply remove the remaining gold plating and wear silver jewelry.

Is it worth it or not to engage in home gold mining?

On the Internet you can find a number of articles that call for buying electronics and opening a kind of business.

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On the one hand, the idea of ​​mining and extracting gold in this way, despite all the diligence and labor-intensive work, is quite profitable, especially during a crisis situation. All that is required is to find electronics, chemical elements, and also add painstakingness to the work. In addition, gold is a currency that will never lose its value and stability.

Of course, getting gold as a business idea may seem super promising, but still, first of all, you need to ask whether such an activity has consequences, and if so, what are they?

Engage in the purchase of precious metals, scrap, etc. Only registered and licensed organizations can engage in activities.

These norms are regulated by the regulations “Rules for the purchase of precious metals, precious stones in products and scrap from the population”, “On licensing activities in the field of handling scrap non-ferrous and ferrous metals”, the federal law “On Precious Metals and Precious Stones”.

Only specialized large enterprises, a list of which is officially approved by the government, have the right to refining gold, so any such activity is considered illegal. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also provides for sanctions regarding the purchase of radio equipment for the purpose of gold mining and such enrichment.

It is quite unusual to find out that such expensive things constantly surround us. Even SIM cards that are constantly with us also contain particles of gold. Therefore, this article is for informational and informational purposes only, thereby expanding your horizons and range of knowledge.

Use of gold in industry

Technologically new devices and technologies make it possible to use gold in an unusual role. The number of devices based on boards using gold is growing: tablets, smartphones, laptops. This industry is developing at a tremendous pace: every season new, not always improved, models are released, which are quickly sold on the market, meanwhile, the need for old models is disappearing, consumerism is growing, leaving a lot of outdated equipment on the street. And this is only a small part of the development of the modern world. New models of computers and phones are replacing outdated ones, and this process is not at all due to increasing requirements for technology, but is dictated by marketing specialists.

Modern electronics are designed to last a short period of time solely so that people would pay money more often and buy a new one. Many printers have a limit on the number of pages they can produce. When this number ends, a perfectly working device simply stops printing. In order to make it work, you need to crack the code laid down by the manufacturer. For most consumers, it is easier and cheaper to buy new equipment. Old refrigerators work for several decades, new, modern refrigerators, equipped with imaginable and inconceivable functions, “burn out” in a matter of years. Due to such a huge increase in product consumption, industry requires more materials, including gold.

Gold is actively used in various fields of medicine, especially in dentistry.

For the vast majority of technical devices and in medical technologies, the presence of gold in production has absolutely no effect on the price. This is the reason for the increasing use of gold in industry.

Research conducted around the world is expanding the boundaries of the use of this precious metal. Although the public is unlikely to see anything from science fiction films, research gives positive results and makes it possible to reduce metal consumption, meanwhile expanding the areas of its use.

Today, there are six groups of gold use, knowledge of the latter will help answer the question “which old devices most likely contain gold”:

• Transport;
• Electronics and telecommunications;
• Energy and heat regulation;
• Chemistry and petrochemistry;
• Medicine;
• Nanotechnology.

Despite its weight, gold is actively used in aviation and spacecraft. The precious metal is used where corrosion is unacceptable, namely in the connections of engine parts, shuttle windows are covered with the thinnest gold film to prevent harmful radiation from penetrating inside, and electrical contacts are sealed with it. Since the eighties, the state has spent about forty kilograms of gold on the construction of space shuttles.

In automobile transport, gold plays the most important role as a conductor; thanks to this metal, it is much safer to drive modern cars. Gold is used in microcircuits responsible for critical automotive systems and helps catalyze unburned fuel, which helps reduce emissions of the latter into the atmosphere.

The space sector actively uses yellow metal - for example, modern satellites.

In electronics, the importance of gold is beyond doubt: every smartphone, tablet, iPad, computer, candy bar and cell phone have gold in their circuit boards. It is this metal that contributes to the fast operation and reliability of these devices. Therefore, the gold content, including in Intel processors, is beyond doubt.

Solar energy storage systems also contain gold, which helps improve the efficiency of solar energy collection.

Intel processors contain a high percentage of gold.

In hot climates, using gold in glass window panels helps prevent excess heat from entering, thereby making offices and homes cozier and reducing the need for air conditioning, which in turn reduces energy costs.

In the chemical industry, catalysts containing gold help control chemical reactions and produce the necessary substances. Gold catalysts are used to completely convert feedstocks into chemical products that help convert plastics and paints into relatively harmless substances.

In medicine, gold is used to improve the quality of medical instruments, expanding the usual ways of treating people. Gold is used for arthritis and is found in hearing and eye implants. In the future, it is expected to use gold nanoparticles as drug deliverers to target human organs.

Carbon nanotubes contain precious metal.

Gold is also widely used in nanotechnology: carbon nanotubes, optical chips. The use of gold in this area is due to the exceptional properties of its particles.