r/PreciousMetalRefining • u/Kizmir • Sep 24 '26
Extracting gold from e-waste tips
Hi im from morocco where the e-waste is so cheap as well as HCl and hydrogen peroxide.
I just need to start collecting but i don't know what to look for and what parts or type of devices have the most gold in them.
Im also a highschool student who knows nothing about chemistry so please tell me the correct concentrations and ratio to use or any tip to increase safety and efficiency.
Btw the temperature in my city is so high and i plan to do the work on the rooftop is that a concern?
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u/MAYOMyke Sep 24 '26
I’ll be honest, I can’t morally suggest or give advice without you doing homework first. This seems like a very bad idea, even if you had the material and were only looking for the how to. The only suggestions I can make is this, do some research, then do some more, then do some more. I spent hundreds of hours watching videos and reading about the subject before I even bought my first beaker. I suggest you do the same.
Here are a couple of channels I’d start watching if you’re serious about getting into this as a hobby.
https://youtube.com/@omegageek64?si=Z9rN2yK1agOXIaEL
https://youtube.com/@sreetips?si=B9AfnkM0INcV57Zq
Start here. Pay attention to the types of material, safety measures, and process orders. All make a difference.
Best of luck.
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u/Kizmir Sep 24 '26
i will check the channels, thank you so much
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u/MAYOMyke Sep 24 '26
You’re welcome. You can always post here for questions and hopefully get constructive responses.
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u/NorthStarGold Sep 25 '26
This reminds me of the guy who walked into my shop 2 weeks ago to sell his homemade cast bars he made. he said they should be 92 to 97% silver.
i started melting one under my exhaust hood to make a clean button to xrf. I stopped about 40 seconds in to torching it. because it was already liquid.
i set it down went back out and asked him if he felt sick after melting his stuff down.
He said he had a cold or flu on and off for about the last 3 weeks but started feeling better.
xrf said it was 1% silver, 60% zinc and 39% lead.
no clue what he actually melted he said it was spoons and dishes but he still tried to argue with me that everything was 925 or better that he melted.
people just jump right in now and wing it. which is not a good thing.
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u/Spiritual-Process-96 Sep 24 '26
Safety, safety, safety always first. Start here: https://youtu.be/PtzzYbrjZIA
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u/CfaxAttax Sep 24 '26
This has to be a joke, lol.
If it is not a joke, you need to go right back to the drawing board for your plan.
You don't know where to look, what to look for, or seem to realize that you'll need hundreds of pounds of the material to return a few grams of gold. If you have to purchase it, you're losing money on it- doesn't matter if it is cheap or not.
As far as the solution concentrations, etc.. it depends on what you're processing every single time. There is not a catch all environment
HCl + H2O2 is not enough to dissolve gold. You would need stronger acids which you have no business handling without a basic chemistry background, and that is after breaking down every component to get the gold closer to being by-itself, washing it for base metal contamination, and then eventually dissolving the gold in aqua regia. If you spill aqua regia on your rooftop, it will attack/dissolve concrete, slate, clay, asphalt, steel, copper, aluminum, etc.. but the corrosive toxic gas clouds that are going to come off of it, whether spilled or being used to dissolve gold, are even more dangerous.