Prospectors
 |
This article or section has been classified as Whimsy. It may contain humor and in-jokes from the Sciencemadness Discussion Board which are definitely not scientifically proven and probably shouldn't be taken seriously.
|
Prospectors (or sometimes scrappers) are people who practice amateur chemistry for the purpose of extracting gold, or other precious metals like silver or palladium from old electronics, usually for profit. In some countries they are common and considered a nuisance to both amateur chemists (since their activities are often illegal and draw law enforcement attention to all home chemists) and old hardware aficionados (since they barbarically destroy rare and valuable vintage devices, not knowing their true value). There may be gold in them thar IBM AT's, but the machines themselves are worth much more in working condition.
Gold chemistry is not prohibited at all on Sciencemadness, but it may be illegal according the laws of certain countries that regulate gold ownership and circulation.
