How to Scrap old Cell Phones for *Gold Recovery

[paulspydar]

Is the gold plate the same purity ? or does it depend on where it is salvaged?

[MrLivePositive8]

Thanks for the video it was very eye opening, I will look inside some old cell phones now.

[desertdragon78]

thanks 4 video

[HealthSciBitty]

If only the people in China dismantling the worlds e-waste could do it in such pristine conditions..

[GaNgStAr646]

can u do this with newer phones?

[JohannRahn]

and that is how the nokia jokes over.

[acancino10]

how do you know its real gold

[indeedItdoes]

@acancino10

Gold plating in electronics serves a practical purpose, which is maintaining a reliable electrical connection and corrosion resistance.

Some types of Brass looks much like gold and may confuse the nocive scrapper. Usually screws and brackets.

[samchhom23]

dude how much do you make off this?

[ElectricEntertaiment]

why not just throw it all in a crucible and melt it all down into a mixed precious and non precious metals bar, then use acids and electrolysis to extract the pure metals or sell the metal to a company that can extract the pure metals, you can get the bars assayed and sell it to them based on that information and what the extracted metals would be worth, minus all the work they will have to do to extract them of course

[indeedItdoes]

@ElectricEntertaiment

That whould have been nice thing to do had it would work... unfortunately it doesn't...

Before any SMELTING can be done, a few steps are needed before, such as crushing, incinirating, grinding, magnetics seperation and flux addition.

Definatly not an operation you could do in your back yard with proper permits.

[lowpross11]

I guess, if you have access to large amounts of "old/unwanted" cell-phones. Do it before everyone else does. That's usually how to "win".

Thanks for the post!

[papermoney54]

so is one piler the gold screws and the other pile the silver?

[thegreysky]

it looks funny break

[IntensifiedMoon]

Did you get cheese fries? :3

[Afroguitarman]

dude. U r genius. O.o'

[alrachy]

samsung N620...

[ArabRepublicOfJordan]

Amazing !!

You given me a feeling, that if you buy peanuts , you eat the peanuts and keep the shell to sell it!!.

[beeohhski]

i have a computer from the 80s that has a wopping 250 mb of memory and it weighs about 30 pounds how much gold do you think is in that

[sokkrates1]

i think i got mabe 2 tousend of this cand of phone ;-) my friend alsow, so know im going to rip him of :) hehe

[MesKillsChuckNorris]

0:51 - Were you playing Angry Birds? =)

[dcshoeman2k4]

Seems to me like it'd be easier to scrap plated jewelry if this is the low yield you're after.

[danieldyer26]

The gold rush is back again!

[mannyleec1]

300,000,000 cellphones are thrown away every year and there is about an average of $1.50 worth of gold in each cellphone.

[JeffONDRIEZEK]

Making money by extracting precious metals from electronics seems a great pastime for those so inclined. For another proven way to get real money

paid directly into your PayPal account goo.gl\v555i

[SilverDimeBuyer]

i saved my old phone's , ohh ., I knew they had some type of value LOL , at least for old numbers !

[manhuu88]

is there gold in all phones or just old 1 like the nokia s and how can u tell if the circuit board is coper or gold

[pinehillprimitives1]

How much money/gold can you get out of a basic phone?

[indeedItdoes]

@pinehillprimitives1

Unfortunately, I can't avarage it, scrap cell phones can hold anywhere from 1.5$ to 4 $ in gold.

There are other metals to recover as well such as Silver, Palladium and copper.

[F111E]

@indeedItdoes Great info video, I like learning stuff the higher ups don't want you to know. Who will purchase gold plated parts from electronics?

[malkdk]

@indeedItdoes is there a way to separate the gold from the metal on which it is plated? like putting it in an acid and dissolving the metal and leaving only pure gold behind?

[UkrainianDragon1993]

@indeedItdoes which parts are the silver. can't tell anything anymore since everything is painted shiny lol.

[o0jopak0o]

I think it is possible to make a living Recovering rare earths and gold in cellphones(some factories in the world are already doing this but if you are just a regular man with no connections on scrap phones then your out of luck if all the cellphones you will scrap is the ones you owned.

@indeeditdoes Great vid btw but I have heard that there is a metal used more abundantly on phones than gold that will fetch a higher gain per phone. Do you know what that is? or is it just a myth?

[indeedItdoes]

@o0jopak0o

It is indeed possible to make a living out of recovering metals from electronics, but one must fine tune his process and cherry pick working only with the highest yielding items.

Many just see scrapping and recoveirng og gold and other metals ad a payable hobby.

The are many other elements in electronics, a wild guess would be more then 40 different elements... Gold is a respected member among them. Also silver and palladium.

But the true king (when it comes to electronics) is Copper

[misterb1972]

Great video.

[mazharkhattak]

so u wana sy its REAL GOLD???

[indeedItdoes]

@mazharkhattak

Yes, it is real gold, though plated, not solid :)

[dewey173]

whats on the bin to the left



[rugto]

This is nice! Thanks for teaching us how to make business out of cellphones. You just made me a proposition that will not only benefit my entire life but as well as future families of 10 generations - making an ounce of gold for 10 centuries of time.

[ILOVETHICKBITCHES]

aint there diamonds in cell phones too?

[TheMete20]

@ILOVETHICKBITCHES dont think so i just opend a nokia yester day i only found soft gold :s

[indeedItdoes]

@ILOVETHICKBITCHES

No Sir... no Diamonds in cellphones...

[Tantar117]

each gold piece represents 1 hour of his life wasted

[SpaceWars2025]

BTW, how much gold and what karat do you get out of a cellphone?? .. I am assuming no more than 0.1g. Could someone elaborate in this.. thanks!

[SpaceWars2025]

Man you sure made shortwork of that cellphone. Awesome vid and str8 to the point. Ill be picking up cell phones off the ground when the snow clears up for sure!

[56labrat56]

awesome and very interesting.

[ursel1965]

at this way i made my first million

[P1nki777]

я так же свой айфон разобрал.

Форевер дибила!

[1995Bball1995]

how much do you think the amount of gold on the phone is worth?

[zonepointfilms]

@Mattthewinner, or 533 phones for a gram of gold which will still make around $29.00.

[GitarStu]

How much gold is there in a cell phone? As it's all just plating and no solid gold at all, surely to harvest even a portion of a gram of gold would take a few dozen phones?

I admire you dedication, but I seriously can't see this making you much money. Ever.

[jmitterii2]

So how much gold have you been able to get off these cell phones so far?

[4u250ut]

I'm going to be rich!!! thanks for the tips. :)

[Rfontanasantana]

ver baddd jobbbb broooooo sorrryyyy

[TheThefugitive]

thanks for the post :) is it true what that guy matt says,, you need 14 thousand phones or is he pullin our leg ?

[indeedItdoes]

@TheThefugitive

No, it's not true.

Avarage whight of cellphone board is around 20-30 g.

So 14,932 cells amounts to 298 - 448 Kg boards.

One metric ton of cell boards can assay at 250g Gold at the low end and up to 400g of Gold (depends of course at the type)

350 - 450 g Silver

and 80 - 150 Palladium

(Compare that to the best mine ores you know)

Some folks just like to toss around numbers, not knowing the actual facts... just have to say something...

[indeedItdoes]

@indeedItdoes

These numbers can also run for much higher.

Hed a fellow colleague reporting 0.025g of gold per cellphone. Don't know which type.

My experience is a bit lower yields then that though.

[daisiechain90]

@indeedItdoes cool,,,keep it comin,,,wonder if i could collect enough to make a good livin,??? wadyathink,,letmeknow,,rgds

[indeedItdoes]

@daisiechain90

Key word: Cherry Picking. :)

[piccolopeteisme]

Okay, this is really bothersome. Your audio was obviously on - why didn't you talk your way through this? Why do I have to read your stuff? Way too many people do this kind of crap. Why?  I know there is gold in electronics - why didn't you just talk about it instead of making us read the stuff? The video would probably have been easier to make withouth the text anyway...

[indeedItdoes]

@piccolopeteisme

Well... no one said you have to read what i write.

I suggest you just skip all of my videos, don't watch them, it's not worth it for ya.

btw, who died and made you my boss?

[MrColombian91]

@indeedItdoes LOL... hit 'em on the face XD...

[tldatroof]

@indeedItdoes its amazing how lazy peple are these days "why do i have to use my eyes and read for goddness sakes" lol

[themattdaddy]

@tldatroof its amazing that you cant spell goodness hahahaha dumb fuck

[tldatroof]

@themattdaddy no its amazing u don't realize it's just a typo :(

[nsn1998]

if that's all gold you cant afford it

[feuerwerk1997hansl]

how do you get the indium??

[nathanelco]

Now I understand why Nokia 3310 is indestructible .. 

[manson7770]

hey man got a cell by old and want 70 cents for each purchase you believe this good?

[indeedItdoes]

@manson7770

Big recycler will pay that or a bit over for scrap cell's, but remember the small scale scrapper have much more labor involved.

So is think it is a bit pricy, i would countr offer with 30-50c per unit or pass.

good luck

[indeedItdoes]

@manson7770

Actually, the real good money in scrap cell's is coming from the removal of working components and selling them as spare parts to technicians labs.

This require knowledge in electronic though.

[manson7770]

@indeedItdoes thanks for everything man

[jeminuz]

how do you split the metals of the green board ?

[jednoucelovy]

Hobos "recycle" from dustbins. This is not that different. It's nice to have a decent job. People do crazy things for cash these days...

[FeralTyneMan]

Hi. So up to 1:54 where you've finished the basic gold/metal scrap...I'm good to walk into a scrap dealers with them like that? I don't have to melt them or anything? Sorry if it's a silly question, just starting out.

[indeedItdoes]

@FeralTyneMan

It's not silly question dude :)

yes, if you collect enough material you could sell the bulk to a refiner.

I wouldn't go to the scrap metals yard with it, the are those who deal solely with e-scrap.

You can also dispense some on eBay... This bring in the most ;-)

[FeralTyneMan]

@indeedItdoes Thanks for taking the time to answer, much appreciated.

[scrapman75]

And what are the black things

[scrapman75]

Are the lil peaces in the cup gold?

[Mattthewinner]

You only need 14,932 phones to make an ounce of gold.

[cgspeeddemon1]

@Mattthewinner acording to modern marvels you can get an ounce out of only 1200 modern cell phones.....5000 of the old candy bar style phones

[cidshankar]

i want know full details of how to separate the gold, and then which chemical are used to separate the gold from mobile parts tell it detail.........?

[99pppo]

Mobile phone organ thieves! :-p Great video, very interesting!

[isaacbateman76]

Old phone can make lots of money~

[cklogs]

Great video, I have a cell phone store for 20 years and have lot laying around. What do I do with the parts once taken out? How do I make them sold gold?

[indeedItdoes]

@cklogs

The seperated components are collected until meaningful amount is achieved.

Then, each type goes through a different recovery process according to its composition.

It's not that i don't want to show how to proceed from here, i just have very limited time to write, film, edit and upload the tutorials...

[mangirl111]

is this your first time? <_<

[Brettvella1984]

i tried this with my phone but now i get bad reception

[ReligionIs4iDiOtS]

How much gold can be recovered from 100 cell phones, or 1 cell phone, whatever, i can do the math?

[indeedItdoes]

@ReligionIs4iDiOtS

Hi

It is very depends of the type...

Each cellphone can hold anywhere from 10$ to 30$ in precious metals (Au,Ag,Pd)...

[krillin876]

@indeedItdoes What about the cell phone battery or batteries in general, what is inside there?

[xXsk8ivanXx]

i have the nokia 3310 and my screwdriver broke, then i lost it and it broke the floor :(

[momentinpassing]

A very toxic hobby with a profit motive thrown in equals a lot of people getting sick because they or their neighbor chased after some metals in electronics. Great. It wasn't bad enough that I'm currently soaking in microwaves from my neighbors, now I'll be drinking toxic water from their home labs too.

[indeedItdoes]

@momentinpassing

You're more likely catch a brain tumor from your own cellphone before that will happen...

[momentinpassing]

@indeedItdoes Who said anything about a brain tumor and who said I use a cellphone? That is the expected response though. You're tinkering with toxins and others are going to pay the price.

[indeedItdoes]

@momentinpassing

You are right, my replay was unfair.

I do however, have plans to write and film procedurs in regards to proper waste treatment and disposal.

Though, it's not guaranteed everybody will follow it...

My main point was, that in my mind, there are other, more present health issues for us to worry about...

[schopski0]

@momentinpassing your thinking with your mouth and we all have to look at it.. go stick ur head in the microwave.

[QAeternus]

@momentinpassing Retard

[krillin876]

@momentinpassing What about radiation. how are you typing into the computer?

[krillin876]

@momentinpassing Toxic, if you only knew what pesticides were used in farming, hormones in meats, floride in our water, you wouldnt think this was so toxic

[momentinpassing]

@krillin876 Mercury is the most toxic non-radioactive element. The fire retardants cause birth defects. The Lead lowers IQ. As for meat, I don't eat factory farm meat. I filter fluoride out of my drinking water for minimal cost. I don't buy pesticide intensive foods from farmers who use them. So unfortunately it is the fact that I do know, and you simply want to deny. Denial is fine. Just know it doesn't change the facts. This is a toxic hobby that is going to make many sick.

[indeedItdoes]

@momentinpassing

Thank you. Your opinion does matter and is heard!

You brought up an important subject. Hopefully, it will not fall on deaf ears.

I feel that at this point the subject had been exhausted itself.

Also get the feeling you kinda like trolling...

p.s - there's no mercury in Lithium batteries...

p.s.2 - There are far more toxic and deadly elements then mercury. Beryllium for example.... most of the Lanthanides are non radioactive but very toxic...

Halogens (F2,Cl2,Br2,I2)...

[nerblebun]

@indeedItdoes Sir,I applaud your entrepreneurial spirit and eco-friendly endevour re-cycling aged cell phones for fun & profit. However, I must point to one grievous error. Beryllium is not toxic. Indesputable proof can be wittnessed by Tim the Toolman Taylors handling of a Beryllium Sphere while repowering the NSEA Protector. Feel free to handle all the Beryllium you wish. If malady should befall you, I promise you this... By Grabthars hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged !!

[indeedItdoes]

@nerblebun

hehe :-)

that is sharp!

[Cakeyflour]

What's the value of one phone's worth of gold?

[VeryWideEye]

You should just heat the board using heat gun (paint striper gun?) to melt the solder and scrape every parts off.

There will be no flying bits.

[lobcity69]

wow, that was really awesome! about how much gold do you think is in 1 cell phone.

please write back!

[strongjack3]

That was boring

[clonetrooperx39]

where do u get all those old cell phones please write back

[indeedItdoes]

@clonetrooperx39

Hi

I'm buying them in bulk.

[clonetrooperx39]

@indeedItdoes but like where at amazon or at a scrap yard and how much comes in a bulk and for how much

[Dusty696969]

If I don't want to separate the gold is there places that will take unseparated gold. I have been doing this for a while and have lots and lots of gold that's not separated from its parts.

[indeedItdoes]

@Dusty696969

Yes, many e-scrap dealers will buy cellphone boards and gold plated items.

Check out some of the buyers at "gold refining forum" AND "scrap metal forum".

There you can find also price lists.

[Two14Two]

oooh dear all the, old phones in the boxes i threw out I REGRET!

[gigie555]

A few mills of plating on a few small parts is not much gold. Your. would be lucky

to get a penny's worth and it took you a few minutes to open up that phone. For your time, you would get better pay as a Walmart greeter.

[imatelly]

@gigie555 you must remember 1 gram of gold cost like 70 bucks now adays,and thats a small paper thin amount as big as your finger nail

[gigie555]

@imatelly Gold plating is usually about 20 micro inches thick (20 millionths of an inch or 1/19762 cm), and that is about 1/300 the width of a human hair follicle. Gives you an idea of the surface area of a gold plated item that would yield a gram of gold. 1 Gram of gold is .3727 cm3 ( a cube .3727 cm on each side) split down to 1/19762 cm thick sections would yield a surface area of .3727cm2 x 19762 or 7365 cm2 or almost 1 meter squared. That is a much larger area than a fingernail.

[indeedItdoes]

@gigie555

The majority of the gold/palladium/silver in most electronics is not in the plating.

It's within the different components.

Also, try and remember the a lot of folks out there, ar not in it for net profit, so this example is for them.

For the record, i do agree with you, that for the most part, processing electronics that way is not cost effective...

Where the alternative is to incinirate and smelt them... and i ain't gonna suggest that for someone to do in their back yard...

[Ljungman42]

@iBombAtomicly It's measured in precentages as well Mr. Know-it-all. Anyone who buys Bullion knows that.

[foxraceing27]

i love this vido is help alot

[discreettrouble]

Nice video. I just wonder how many grams are in a phone? Gold's at $1700+

[discreettrouble]

@iBombAtomicly It's both by Karats and Percentages/fractions. It just depends on what your talking about, why do you think a coin collector wants a gold coin .9999 fine/24 Karats coin rather then .9167 fine/22 Karat coin. In the tech world they normaly use percent but saying 24 karat is just as good. Nice video just the same. I just wonder how many grams are in a phone? Gold's at $1700+

[KillCapjohns]

This isnt worth it guys I made this my summer project last year and asked everyone at school for old phones and bought bulk online and after about 250 phones going through getting every little piece of gold out I only made about 100 dollars for about 60 hours of labor when any job you could get paid much more.

[indeedItdoes]

@iBombAtomicly

Sory. me not know wat "karats" is

me no "pro"

[mordhaus100]

@indeedItdoes lol

[miscanime]

lol really sore....SOAR...

[stormspottter]

what is the purity of the gold?

[indeedItdoes]

@stormspottter

Purity of gold plating in electronics is usually around 99.97, the rest being hardening agents such as Cobalt and Tellurium.

[stormspottter]

would the refinary melt small amounts of gold like that?

[constantin009]

destroyng a 2 dollars phone for 25cent of gold

[thetittymonster7]

@constantin009 most cell phones have between $5 and $12 dollars worth of gold plating inside them. Computer chips and motherboards in the average PC can have 60 to 100 dollars worth of gold in them, that is, if you know how to extract it and isolate the gold from other metals and plastic.

[seriouslycoolful]

@constantin009 worth it for the XP 

[TWSceptic]

@constantin009 Not to mention labour costs, tools. But if the gold price goes to insane high, then some day it may become cost-effective.

[XafrojewfroX]

@constantin009 it may be a small amount, but gold is at $1600 an ounce.

[pornoslut]

How much money are thosebins worth that you have in your video ???

[quaxk]

@pornoslut very little

[pornoslut]

@quaxk oh really ??? thats a bummer ! I thought it would be like a few hundred at least lol . Shows how much I dont know about this type of stuff haha . =)

[benner2000]

Do you process those piles differently? Can electronic parts simply be dropped into Aqua Regia and then precipitate the gold out of solution?

[indeedItdoes]

@benner2000

This is a recepie for disaster without knowing what you are doing.

I plan to upload many more video regarding electronic scrap recovery, though it takes me a lot of time to process/film, edit, write and upload.

[benner2000]

@indeedItdoes I am studying to be a Chemical Engineer, so I have some experience and can understand the references needed to understand this process. Just off the top of my head, it looked like after dissolving many of the metals, you simply precipitate the metals you don't want, until you have a solution of HAuCl4 and then reduce the gold out of solution. I plan to watch your videos when they are finished.

[indeedItdoes]

@benner2000

Hi,

Actually, you got it backwards.

In most recovery/refining cases (but not all), most metals are dissolved away Before the gold is.

If gold and other metals are in solution, usually gold is reduced selectively, leaving other metals in solution.

[BrothrBob]

I have about 6 old cell phones & plenty of old computer memory? Where can I recycle it?

[indeedItdoes]

@BrothrBob

You can sell these at most of the scrap metals yards.

eBay is also a good option to sell scrap.

[HyperioxXx]

When you ge the gold out, is it ready to be sold?

[HyperioxXx]

@HyperioxXx Please inbox me :) as this would be an easy way to make money! cause i love taking stuff apart

[indeedItdoes]

@HyperioxXx

I did not understand your questions... sry.

[HyperioxXx]

@indeedItdoes I mean like the gold you get out, wich i can see is on bolts or other diffrent parts, do you need any refining or i could sell them as they are?

[indeedItdoes]

@HyperioxXx

No Sir.

In most cases, the gold you find in electronics is only plated.

Main reason for plating with gold is to protect the component from corrosion while maintaining conductivity, gold plating provides just that.

Since gold is so expensive, they only plate is with a thin layer of 5-50 micro inch, depends on the application.

So, recovery and refining of the gold and other metals is needed before it could be sold as bullion.

[339justdoit]

@dontNomMe Maybe it was the fork :P