## Gold Recovery from E-Waste ⚠️ **SAFETY FIRST**: Always work outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. Wear gloves, safety goggles, and a respirator. Never mix chemicals without understanding the reaction. ### What Contains Gold? - Circuit board edge connectors (gold fingers) — highest concentration - CPU and memory chip pins - Some connector pins and contact points - SIM cards and smart cards ### Materials Needed - Old circuit boards (the more gold fingers, the better) - Muriatic acid (HCl) — from hardware store - Hydrogen peroxide (3%) — from pharmacy - Glass or HDPE containers (NEVER metal) - Coffee filters - Rubber gloves, goggles, N95 respirator - Stump remover (sodium metabisulfite) for precipitation ### The AP (Acid Peroxide) Method **Step 1: Prepare Your E-Waste** Cut gold fingers from circuit boards. Remove any non-gold components. **Step 2: The Acid Bath** Mix 2 parts HCl to 1 part H2O2 in a glass container. Submerge the gold fingers. The solution will turn green as it dissolves base metals (copper). The gold foils will separate and float. **Step 3: Filtering** After 24-48 hours, filter through coffee filters to collect gold foils. Rinse with distilled water. **Step 4: Refining (Advanced)** Dissolve gold foils in aqua regia for higher purity. Precipitate with SMB. ### Expected Yields - 1 lb of gold fingers ≈ 1-3 grams of gold - At current prices, that is $60-$180 per pound of fingers - Volume is key — collect from e-waste drives, thrift stores, estate sales