Old Electronics Could Be Literal Gold Mines

Mining for gold has traditionally been thought of as digging tunnels into the earth, finding the rare metal, and then bringing it up to the surface for processing. With this being the electronics age, however, this might no longer be the only method of actual gold mining. Tons and tons of old gadgets and gizmos and being thrown out each year and according to a recent study, mining them could be worth a lot of money.

The practice of digging up gold out of plastic and metal instead of dirt and rocks is called Urban Mining. According to a recently published research into the practice, it’s a reasonably economical idea, provided the facilities and government support is there. Aside from the financial incentives, there’s also the matter of curbing electronic waste or e-waste in the modern age.

“In this work, we demonstrate utilizing real cost data from e-waste processors in China that ingots of pure copper and gold could be recovered from e-waste streams at costs that are comparable to those encountered in virgin mining of ores,” the paper reads.

“Our results are confined to the cases of copper and gold extracted and processed from e-waste streams made up of recycled TV sets, but these results indicate a trend and potential if applied across a broader range of e-waste sources and metals extracted. If these results can be extended to other metals and countries, they promise to have positive impact on waste disposal and mining activities globally, as the circular economy comes to displace linear economic pathways.”

Based on the results of the study, it seems Urban Mining turns out to be 13 times less expensive than actual mining, Futurism notes. This is a staggering development, especially when considering that in just one million electronic devices being thrown away, an estimated 75 pounds of gold can be mined. 35,000 pounds of copper and 772 pounds of silver can be obtained from the same pile, as well.