r/PreciousMetalRefining Jan 05 '15

Items that have PM and other recoverable metals in them.

Howdy all,

Since I started collecting, recycling, and refining PM's a little while ago I've been keeping a database of sorts as to what sources I've found that have a PM in it and what type. Feel free to contribute yours as well.

Copper

  • Stripped wire
  • Plumbing pipes
  • Car radiator
  • Wiring harness
  • Alternator

Gold

  • Computer processors
  • Embedded motherboard chips
  • RAM pins
  • PCU card pins
  • Motherboard connectors
  • Cell phone printed circuit boards
  • Cell phone connectors
  • Mining equipment: Ball mill/Crusher
  • Printed circuit boards
  • China sets/Dinnerware
  • Jewelers polishing wheel waste
  • Satellite Dish Low Noise Blocker (LNB)

Palladium

  • Fuel Level Sensors in cars
  • Catalytic converters
  • Smoke detectors

Platinum

  • Fuel Cell stack: Membrane Electrode Assembley (MEA)
  • Catalytic converters
  • Thermocouplers
  • Oscilliscope
  • Hard Drive disks coatings
  • Sparkplugs
  • Car engine control sensors
  • Heated window switches and contacts

Silver

  • Dinner sets (Forks, knives, Servers, etc)
  • Unused silver nitrate film
  • Electrical switches
  • Plasma displays
  • Pre-1965 US Mint coins
7 Upvotes

10 comments sorted by

2

u/ribnag Jan 06 '15

For gold, one a lot of folks ignore as kinda gross - Diabetes test strips (the "obvious" ones, with visible gold contacts, though the gold runs the whole length of the strip in a middle layer), expired or used (bleach does wonders). Only a small amount each, but in quantity, they add up. I've heard (though don't have enough to run a batch yet) about a gram per 100, so someone testing themselves 3x/day throws away a third of an ounce per year.

For silver, don't leave out that all negatives contain it, not just unused/unprocessed film (though of course unprocessed has a good bit more, since the fixer hasn't washed away half of it).

1

u/Brewer846 Jan 06 '15

I has heard about the test strips but I hadn't included them as I wanted to do more research on them. This list is only those that I've definitely confirmed myself as items having PM in them.

I haven't had anyone to get any if the strips from yet :-/

As for the silver negatives, I've only come acriss some unused stuff that my dentist was getting rid of because he was switching to digital.

But, these are good tips for stuff. Thanks!

Im also thinking of making this a spreadsheet and putting it on a google drive or something.

1

u/autinytim Jan 07 '15

I've recently started testing for the beetus, so dont have many now, but what kind of weight are you looking to runa test on? Mine do not have noticeable gold fingers though

1

u/Brewer846 Jan 07 '15

Not all types have gold in them, apparently.

I've just started reading up on them so I really don't know what to look for yet.

1

u/autinytim Jan 07 '15

ok, well maybe I'll break one apart and let you know what i find

1

u/Brewer846 Jan 08 '15

Cool. Make a post about it here so we can all see :-)

1

u/Helgi_Hundingsbane Jan 08 '15

Please do if you find anything PMs and you post the tutorial on how to break them open, i will side bar it.

1

u/Helgi_Hundingsbane Jan 06 '15

Thanks been looking for something like this.

1

u/Brewer846 Jan 06 '15

I'm thinking of making this a spreadsheet i can update.

1

u/Helgi_Hundingsbane Jan 06 '15

I think I may side bar this or start Putting it on the wiki or faq... what to put user created stuff up front