Hello from Germany

[M.A. Buth]

**Hello everyone,**

My name is Marcel, and like some others here, I first heard about this forum through the GRF.

I am an electronics and IT hardware engineer with 20 years of experience in the field. During my time in the industry, I realized that there was very little expertise in the recycling of electronic components. This led me to publish my first book, *Gold from PCs*, which focused on recovering precious metals from electronics. Over time, I expanded my research and published additional works covering other aspects of precious metal recovery and refining.

As a great admirer of C. M. Hoke and her pioneering work, I have translated and modernized her publications while also delving into her biography—a project I am still actively working on. While I consider myself an advanced practitioner in electrochemistry, I wouldn’t call myself a full expert, as there is always something new to learn every day. Unlike many YouTubers, I gained extensive hands-on experience before writing about these topics, which gave me a solid understanding of the field. However, I see myself primarily as a writer and archivist rather than someone who makes a living from precious metal recovery. That’s why I’m here to learn from the real experts—you. My role is to document and preserve knowledge within the community.

Since 2019, I have been developing a low-cost device for identifying and testing metals. It’s an ongoing small-scale project aimed at creating a highly reliable and affordable tool, as I’ve often encountered metals without knowing exactly what they are. This is a community-driven effort, and I welcome anyone interested in joining me on this journey and contributing their insights.

Although I am not an expert in bullion, trading, or numismatics, I’m eager to learn more about these topics. I look forward to seeing how this specialized forum develops and hope to contribute whenever I can.
I am always open for suggestions on what to write, film or develop for this special field. Just contact me and I will see if I can help!

Looking forward to engaging with you all!

Best regards,

Marcel aka M. A. Buth

If you want to check out some of my titles here you go:

https://www.amazon.com/M.A.Buth

 

[Alan]

Welcome! It sounds like you have a lot of deep knowledge in the recovery industry.

One thing that seems like a tough barrier to start is sourcing scrap, did you struggle with that?

 

[MH36]

**Hello everyone,**

My name is Marcel, and like some others here, I first heard about this forum through the GRF.

I am an electronics and IT hardware engineer with 20 years of experience in the field. During my time in the industry, I realized that there was very little expertise in the recycling of electronic components. This led me to publish my first book, *Gold from PCs*, which focused on recovering precious metals from electronics. Over time, I expanded my research and published additional works covering other aspects of precious metal recovery and refining.

As a great admirer of C. M. Hoke and her pioneering work, I have translated and modernized her publications while also delving into her biography—a project I am still actively working on. While I consider myself an advanced practitioner in electrochemistry, I wouldn’t call myself a full expert, as there is always something new to learn every day. Unlike many YouTubers, I gained extensive hands-on experience before writing about these topics, which gave me a solid understanding of the field. However, I see myself primarily as a writer and archivist rather than someone who makes a living from precious metal recovery. That’s why I’m here to learn from the real experts—you. My role is to document and preserve knowledge within the community.

Since 2019, I have been developing a low-cost device for identifying and testing metals. It’s an ongoing small-scale project aimed at creating a highly reliable and affordable tool, as I’ve often encountered metals without knowing exactly what they are. This is a community-driven effort, and I welcome anyone interested in joining me on this journey and contributing their insights.

Although I am not an expert in bullion, trading, or numismatics, I’m eager to learn more about these topics. I look forward to seeing how this specialized forum develops and hope to contribute whenever I can.
I am always open for suggestions on what to write, film or develop for this special field. Just contact me and I will see if I can help!

Looking forward to engaging with you all!

Best regards,

Marcel aka M. A. Buth

If you want to check out some of my titles here you go:

https://www.amazon.com/M.A.Buth

Hello! I am interested in this project of yours that will be affordable and can identify unknown metals. Are the possible identifications include any complex bonds of an unknown metal found outdoors spontaneously? I've got a large blue yet rainbow colored chunk of metal that I found and it is truly an amazing thing. It's dark dark blue on the outside and the metal inside is literally mixed colors..its like a mixed metallic rainbow that I've never seen the lines of before. I found it partially underground in my driveway...that has been washing out for the last 20 years slowly...and it's strange as can be. It's magnetic but it don't set off a metal detector at all. I've never encountered such metal and don't know what to think of it...wonder if your project metal identifier could tell me what it is?

 

[M.A. Buth]

Hello MH36!

Our metal tester can currently identify 16 metals (all precious metals plus some base metals), so I cannot tell if what you found is among them. It is quite affordable—the latest generation is around $250, which is reasonable if you use it more than once. It has shown to be able to test some ores as well.

If your specimen is magnetic, the only commonly known metals that can be alloyed or mixed are iron, nickel, and cobalt.

You can perform a few more tests before diving deeper. An easy one is the density test, which can be done at home without any chemicals. This could provide a first hint. However, if the material is heavily alloyed (a mix of multiple metals), it may become difficult to identify them all.

Some pawn shops and scrapyards have an XRF “pistol” that analyzes your metallic sample using X-rays, which can at least give some indications about the surface.