Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

The British Royal Mint, the state-owned institution responsible for producing coins and medals, has launched an unusual recycling operation: extracting gold from discarded electronic devices, including old phones once used at Bank of England offices, AzerNEWS reports.

According to Sean Millard, the Mint’s network development director, the facility, installed two years ago, can process around 4,000 tonnes of electronic waste each year, recovering approximately 400 kg of gold.

Unlike conventional recyclers, which often process entire devices at once, the Royal Mint first dismantles the equipment. Copper, tantalum, plastic and other materials from circuit boards are separated and sent to specialized recycling companies.

Traditionally, recovering gold from electronics involves extremely high temperatures or aggressive chemical mixtures that can generate hazardous waste. The Royal Mint has adopted a different approach based on technology patented by Canadian company Excir, which can dissolve gold at room temperature.

According to Royal Mint chemist-analyst Kate Griffiths, the process requires no external energy source and the chemical solution can be reused several times. Electronic components are placed in a chemical bath, where the gold is gradually dissolved and eventually recovered as a fine powder.

One old phone from the Bank of England reportedly contains around 30 milligrams of gold, worth roughly £3. A modern smartphone can contain gold worth around £4.

The recovered precious metal is then refined and used to produce the Royal Mint’s 886 jewellery collection. The collection also incorporates recycled silver, some of which comes from old radios donated by British hospitals.

Jeweller John Powell, 63, who polishes rings at the Mint’s workshop, admits that it is impossible to tell whether a particular piece contains recycled gold or newly mined metal.

The project highlights a growing trend known as “urban mining” — recovering valuable materials from discarded electronics instead of extracting them from the ground.

And there is plenty of material to mine. According to the UN, only 22.3% of the world’s electronic waste was properly collected and recycled in 2022. The rest can end up in landfills or informal recycling sites, where toxic substances such as lead and mercury may enter the environment.

At the same time, soaring gold prices are making electronic waste increasingly attractive as a source of precious metals. Gold recently approached $5,600 per ounce, driven by global economic uncertainty, before falling back toward the $4,000 range.

“When the price of gold is truly high, the cost of recycling waste to extract it becomes insignificant,” says Jason Hallett, a professor of sustainable chemical technologies at Imperial College London.

The surprising part? Your old phone may be worth more than you think — not because of the phone itself, but because of the tiny amount of precious metal hidden inside it.