Do It Yourself Gold Recovery

There are many ways to recover gold on your own. Recovering gold by metal detecting, scrap computer and electronics components, and gold mining are three of the most popular ways. Special equipment and knowledge are required for gold recovery. With some basic equipment and education, anyone can learn to recover gold. Gold recovery means finding and obtaining the precious metal gold, whereas gold refining means separating the precious gold from other metal combinations.

Metal detector enthusiasts get their exercise and history fix while using metal detectors to recover and find gold and other jewelry. It has been said that there is more gold lost yet waiting to be discovered than there is in circulation. There are a wide variety of metal detectors available depending on the type of gold recovery being done. According to Western and Eastern Treasures Magazine, people using metal detectors recover gold jewelry, coins and nuggets (see Reference section).

Gold recovery from mining can also be done using a metal detector. Many gold mining enthusiasts choose to use homemade sluices and gold pans. This is a labor-intensive process. Treasure maps and old gold mines often offer basic gold-mining tours and classes for a price, with guaranteed results.

A new trend has emerged in do-it-yourself gold recovery: scrap electronics and computer components are disassembled for their precious metal content. This is a somewhat complex task, and special equipment and instructions are required. There are online training videos that describe the processes of recovering gold from computer circuitry and components. People have died trying to recover gold from computer components, since the process requires the use of cyanide and other harmful chemicals.

Gold recovery can even be done by searching your local thrift stores for old gold-plated ceramic dishes, gold-plated lamps, and old telephones with gold-plated components. Gold can even be recovered from old military uniforms with gold thread. Old eye glass frames and gold tooth fillings have also been sources of gold.

Once the items that contain gold are found, the refining process then follows. Today, there are many recyclers who specialize in gold refining from a variety of objects. It is best to contact and read up on the recycling company first before proceeding on your hunt for gold-plated thrift store treasures.

Gold can be recovered easily by sending gold-plated objects to a specialty recycler or refiner, but many gold recyclers and refiners do not accept ceramics, electronic components or other materials.