Systems and methods of efficiently recovering precious metals using an alkaline leach, ultrasound, and electrolysis

1. A method for extracting a desired metal from a substance, the method comprising:

contacting the substance with an alkaline leach to separate the desired metal from the substance;

providing ultrasound energy and anodic current on a work face of the substance;

etching the substance with the alkaline leach, thereby releasing the desired metal from the substance; and

collecting the released desired metal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substance includes integrated circuit boards, printed circuit boards, capacitors, metal fragments, large irregular granules, and small irregular granules.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the metal fragments have a copper content between 70-80%.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising leaching the fragments for 6-15 hours wherein 50-95% of the copper is removed from the fragments.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising isolating precious metals from the fragment after the copper has been removed.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein precious metals include gold, platinum, silver, iridium, and palladium.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the large irregular granules weigh between 10-20 grams.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the small irregular granules weigh between 0.5 and 1.5 grams.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising flashing off any by-products having a melting point below the desired metal.

10. A method for extracting a desired metal contained in a substance, the method comprising:

contacting the substance with an alkaline leach to separate the desired metal from the substance;

etching the substance with the alkaline leach, thereby releasing the desired metal from the substance;

collecting the released desired metal; and

purifying the desired metal, thereby resulting in a concentrated form of the desired metal, wherein the desired metal includes at least one metal selected from the group consisting of gold, platinum, silver, iridium, and palladium.

11. A method of extracting precious metals from electronic scrap comprising:

placing electronic scrap into an ultrasound assisted electrolytic tank in the presence of an alkaline leach and anodic current, wherein the electronic scrap comprises:

copper;

iron; and

precious metals;

selectively dissolving the copper in the tank in the presence of an electrolyte;

capturing iron with a magnet filter;

in a centrifugal concentrator, separating the precious metals from the electronic scrap in a form of precious metal concentrate; and

recovering copper in an electrowinning cell,

wherein a heat pump maintains the temperature in the tank and electrowinning cell below 50 degrees Celsius, to avoid excess evaporation of alkaline leach, and produces hot water as a byproduct.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the alkaline leach is selected from the group consisting of ammonia, cupric amine solution, ammonium hydroxide, and ammonium carbonate.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising repurposing the hot water for sanitary and/or central heating purposes.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising sending the precious metal concentrate to a refinery.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising continuously withdrawing electrolyte from the tank while selectively dissolving the copper in the tank.