Gold Plated Steel With Propane (High Heat Method).

Hello, I have discovered a method of taking gold from old cell phones Approx 0.10 g per gold mix per cellphone and making an acid (Hydrochloric acid 31 percent, 3 percent Hydrogen peroxide) and plating with a propane stove to heat up and plate gold onto the steel.

Keep in mind the process requires a lot of heat from the propane and fumes of HCl are released always wear PPE (gloves, goggles, face shield, rubber apron, gas mask when making the gold waste.) The fumes are not pleasant and can be harmful if inhaled.

The gold solution has dissolved heavy metals (Small amounts of lead, etc) but does not dissolve well in solution and with proper PPE they are a low risk to your health. There also nickel and copper from the dissolved acid solution. HCl + H202 is fairly good at stripping small amounts of copper to the solution.

WARNING: Gold solutions with nickel are quite toxic, Hydrochloric acid is very corrosive at 31 percent do not inhale or allow the acid to get onto your skin, eyes, etc. Hydrogen peroxide with HCl is a powerful acid. Dissolved metals (Zinc, Lead (trace), Gold, Nickel, Copper) in HCl and H202 cannot be dumbed down the drain sends the waste to your nearest eco-center.

Note propane is dangerous if done incorrectly make sure you have a fire protocol in place if you choose to do this Project.

Supplies

Old cellphones without batteries.

2 L large flask.

Propane stove.

Bubble wrap

HDPE tub that can hold 3 L max.

Steel plates square 5 mm by 5 mm (1.5 mm or 2 mm thick). Zinc type plating WILL NOT WORK FOR GOLD.

Small teflon cooking pan.

Hydrochloric acid 31 percent. (Hardware acid).

Hydrogen peroxide 3 percent. (No additives).

Brick to hold the cellphone in acid + hydrogen peroxide as it fumes out HCl. Do this in a (WELL VENTILATED AREA!).

Step 1: Preparing the Gold Acid Solution.

The first pic is what happens within 10 minutes. The acid (1000 ml of HCL) plus 200 ml of H202 are added. Adding the acid first then the Peroxide. Normally you would add acid to water but there was no reaction when the HCl was added with the H202. Other acids you would not DO this.

I was thinking should I add Nitric acid a few Moles with HCl (Hydrochloric acid). It would require a dangerous setup of Nitrate salts with Hydrochloric acid threw distillation which is dangerous and would be so dilute no positive effects would occur.

Also if done with dil Nitric acid it would dissolve Lead and Tin thus requiring manual paper filtration so I Opted out the Nitric acid make for the gold. Let's Keep it Simple.

Add 1000 ml pouring very carefully the 31 percent HCl into a 2 L beaker and add 200 ml estimation of the 3 percent H202. Then carefully add the cellphone without the battery. Remember the battery is Lithium it may explode and contaminate your product. Seal in bubble wrap and add the pan. Put a brick on top to hold the pan, and do this in a well-ventilated area.

Step 2: Videos on Cellphone Concentration and How to Do It.

For a few videos I shall show were I got 0.07 to 0.10 g of gold per cellphone.

https://globalbullionsuppliers.com/blogs/blog/much...

So around 0.10 g gold solid per cellphone.

Step 3: Plating the Gold Solution to Stainless Steel 1.5 Mm and 2 Mm Thickness Squares and Heating With Propane.

First, we need to transport the solution (VERY CAREFULLY) to a garage or a workbench with good ventilation. Be careful when transporting over an L of acid. Then for 30-60 minutes with tongs and gloves and full PPE place the Metal sheets with the plastic removed into the ACID bath. Pour in 250 ml of acid approx to an HDPE tub clean and put in the steel plates.

It takes 30-45 minutes for the acid plus the gold to soak into the metal. With tongs remove the steel plates carefully and place the shield onto the propane stove. Turn the Propane to Medium and ignite it.

It takes 5-10 minutes per Plate to chemically react with high heat the propane onto the steel. It using heat to allow gold to plate without electricity onto the steel.

Step 4: Final Conclusion.

I use 250 ml of the acid solution for 7 plates but I assume 15-20 or more plates could be used with propane to give these interesting gold plating. This is a new and innovative method of plating gold with a cellphone acid solution.

Please follow safety procedures and be safe. I hope it works out for you if you try it.