Gold is widely used in computer parts, including pins, circuitry, and wires due to its high conductivity and unrivaled malleability. The high price of gold, currently over $1500 per ounce, suggests that purifying gold from computer components could be economically viable. Recycling old electronics is of environmental value as well as it reduces the amount of metallic waste in landfills. A methodology for a multistep process of dissolving gold from computer parts was first explored beginning with 128 g of gold fingers, the connecting portion of circuit boards, extracting the gold from other ions, purifying the product, and smelting back into solid gold. The wet solution method with organic extraction followed by precipitation and smelting obtained a gold ingot of mass 0.25 grams. These preliminary results were used to prompt an investigation into a more environmentally conscious, yet profitable, extraction procedure. The newly discovered coprecipitation methodology by Stoddart et al. using the sugar complex, alpha-cyclodextrin, to extract gold out of solution has been explored and has shown potential for a fast and safe extraction of gold. The profitability of processing old electronics in an environmentally responsible manner by small companies is currently under investigation.

Investigation of an environmentally conscious extraction of gold on a small commercial scale

248th National Meeting (2014)

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