A Huge Treasure: Old Phones Contain 800 Times More Gold Than Mines

Mobile phone circuit board 

A massive hidden treasure lies within drawers, homes, and offices worldwide.

Reports from the United Nations indicate that a single ton of old mobile phones can contain up to 800 times more gold than a ton of ore extracted from traditional mines, revealing a vast hidden wealth within drawers, homes, and offices around the world.

These striking figures are fueling the expansion of a concept known as "urban mining," a practice that involves extracting precious metals like gold, silver, and copper from electronic waste, including phones, computers, and cables, instead of extracting them from the earth through costly and polluting traditional mining operations, according to the website "clickpetroleoegas."

While the figure circulating regarding gold represents the upper limit and not the average, it reflects the high value of electronic components, especially printed circuit boards, which contain minute concentrations of precious metals within their thin layers.

Urban mining relies on a series of technical processes that begin with dismantling electronic devices and separating plastic components and batteries. This is followed by crushing and sorting the circuit boards using magnetic separation and filtration techniques, before moving on to the metal extraction stage through precise chemical processes that allow for the recovery of gold, silver, and copper at high purity levels.

A Rich Experience for Japan

In a globally remarkable move, Japan utilized this concept during the Tokyo Olympics, launching a national campaign to collect millions of old electronic devices for the purpose of extracting metals and manufacturing Olympic medals. This represents one of the most prominent examples of the "circular economy," which transforms waste into strategic resources.

According to data, the campaign successfully collected tens of thousands of tons of electronic devices and millions of mobile phones, enabling the extraction of sufficient quantities of metals to produce all the Games' medals, including gold, silver, and bronze – a world first. Experts emphasize that the importance of these initiatives extends beyond the symbolic realm, as they promote the concept of recycling and reduce reliance on traditional mining, which is associated with extensive environmental impacts, including deforestation, water consumption, and chemical pollution.

Urban Mining

Urban mining, on the other hand, is not without its environmental challenges. Extracting minerals requires the use of precise chemicals and strict waste management, necessitating monitoring systems and advanced processing technologies to minimize environmental impact.

 Experts indicate that the world produces more than 60 million tons of electronic waste annually, while less than 20% of it is recycled. This means billions of dollars worth of valuable metals remain untapped in digital waste.

Analysts believe that the expansion of "urban mining" could represent a strategic shift in the concept of mineral wealth. Minerals are no longer confined to traditional mines but are also stored within old electronic devices accumulating in users' homes worldwide. 

This trend underscores that the future of minerals may be increasingly linked to recycling and the circular economy, given the growing global demand for gold, silver, and copper, and the increasing need for more sustainable solutions in the technology and industrial sectors.