6 Oct
2013
6 Oct
'13
9:17 p.m.
What's with all of the sellers on eBay in the Vintage Computing section
selling ICs and boards for "gold recovery"?
Are they just scamming ignorant
folks, or do they actually believe they're selling something of value? Do
people believe that if they buy some PCB for $25 shipped, there will be
more than $25 worth of gold on it after they manage to etch away everything
but the gold with acid? Am I missing something, or are those sales about as
honest as the typical 419 email scam? TANSTAAFL...
I think it is buyer beware. Selling for gold recovery also means it is
untested or doesn't work.
There is a lot more gold on old boards than just the fingers. Some chips
have gold in them, especially ceramic and the old black plastic. Old CPUs
have significant gold in them at today's prices. To really process cards
you have to hammermill them. To up your yield you need to strip the boards
of aluminum before milling, along with tantalum as it is more valuable
separately.
If you search you will find plenty of instruction on the internet about how
to get rich mining gold from circuit cards. I think there are plenty of
people who try now and I don't think any are getting rich except the people
publishing and selling instructions.
I have posted stuff for gold recovery, gotten more than I expect and I
attribute it to speculation.
Paxton
--
Paxton Hoag
Astoria, OR
USA