Need Some Help With Electronic Scrap

[Comrade]

I’m possessing some old electronic equipment, related to Cold War times. And my need for now is to refine gold from the contacts. I’ve found this kind of equipment [spam link removed] Can you give me true feedback about it? It’s not cheap, so I want to be sure it’s worth the money. I’ll be appreciate for suggesting better alternatives.

[fahrquad]

Gold has a much lower melt temperature than silicate or copper.

[fahrquad]

Gold 1946`F, Copper 1981`F, Silver (if any) 1762`F, Silicon 2588`F.  Sorry I said silicate before.  My bad.  Careless error. A pottery kiln with a fairly accurate digital controller should do the job just fine.   Gold by itself is a soft structurally worthless metal that only has appeal in shiny baubles and electronics.   Keep in mind that copper is a common alloying material in the various grade of gold (10-24 Karats).  Silver is actually the most electrically conductive metal, but tarnishes easily.  Gold is the second most conductive metal, but does not corrode, so it is ideal for semi-conductors.  Copper is the third most conductive metal but will corrode (Copper Sulfate) in the presence of acidic compounds, particularly Sulfuric Acid.  Oxidation of the surface will happen in air (Cupric Oxide), but generally does not penetrate beyond the surface (unlike steel).  I could get into the crystalline structure of the metals and how that relates to the physical properties, but I think that is a little farther into Metallurgy than you need.

 

http://www.garelicksteel.com/pdfs/Melting_Points_of_Common_Metals.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicate

http://pmmcghana.com/jewelleryshop/jewelleryinformation/23

[fahrquad]

...And of course Aluminum is the fourth most conductive metal, but speaking electrically you are increasing the conductor size by about 40% to handle the same voltage/amperage as copper.