Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Dangers of DIY Gold Refining and Recovery

Crystaline GoldImage via Wikipedia
Electronic scrap is a highly lucrative market for those that have the drive and desire to succeed. However, there are some dangers involved for those that attempt to take things to the next level and recover and refine the gold and other precious metals themselves.
If you start researching this topic you will find that there are plenty of people out there saying how easy it can be to recover and refine the gold at home. I, for one, think that this is irresponsible and dangerous to say the least.
All over the internet on sites like eBay and so on there are people selling DIY kits and plans for gold recovery and refining. If you read through the listings these people talk about how they are able to refine X amount of gold and make a fortune, yada, yada.
Well one question springs to mind: If they are making so much money then why are they selling DIY kits rather than refining the gold?
The fact of the matter is that refining and recovering gold from electronic scrap is dangerous and should be left to the professionals that have the proper equipment and knowledge to complete the process.
Many of the “at home” methods that you will find on the net make use of dangerous acids and other chemicals that are deadly if inhaled or spilled and the idea that you can use them in your garage in a safe manner is ludicrous.
There are more than enough places out there that are willing to buy gold bearing material for a nice price which will keep you safe.
Furthermore, there are many laws that govern the use of these chemicals and simply using them in your garage or basement can get you into a lot of trouble with the law.
I should point out that there are some places on the net selling actual gold recovery and refining equipment that is safe to use. However, the cost is prohibitive as the systems, without the necessary chemicals, run into the thousands of dollars.
So for safety sake I recommend that you stick with selling the gold bearing materials to a refiner and be happy with the price that you are getting for the materials.



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1 comment:

  1. You are correct sir! Leave it to me. Please sell me all of your scrap at 30% bid price. You can call me at xxx-555-5555.

    In reality most people are too stupid to vote intelligently let alone use dangerous chemicals. So while selling it to a refiner makes it really not worth the time and effort based upon the return, when you are just looking for enough for another case of bush light, why not.

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