| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
 Posted - 04/30/2008 : 18:38:01
|
Urban mining is really catching on. This article is a good summary of what it's all about.
Urban mining for mobile gold
There's gold in them thar phones
By Sylvie Barak: Monday, 28 April 2008, 11:01 AM
A NEW PHENOMENON CALLED "urban mining" is becoming popular in Japan as companies pick through electronics rubbish dumps to look for any gold, silver and copper, usually embedded in things like mobile phones, in order to cash in on the skyrocketing metal market.
As the world’s markets become more and more unstable, metals and other non virtual, material commodities have become increasingly popular with investors who would rather have a bullion of gold in the attic than a load of virtual volatile stock. Gold is currently going for an incredible $890 an ounce ($31,417 a kilo), after hitting a record high of $1,030.80 in March. Other metals like copper and tin are also hitting record highs with silver also well above trading averages.
Also, in a surprising study by Japanese recycling outfit Yokohama Metal, it turns out that whereas a tonne of gold ore from a mine produces approximately just 5 grams (0.18 ounce) of the yellow bling, a tonne of mobiles on a rubbish dump could contain up to 150 grams (5.3 ounce) of the shiny stuff. Not to mention the approximate 100 kg of copper, 3kg of silver and a whole host of other lucrative metals lying about.....
full story: You must be logged in to see this link.
|
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
|
|
Delawhere Jack
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1680 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2008 : 19:30:54
|
Guestimating 3 phones per pound, (phones only, no chargers), at current metal prices, this works out to $2.50 per phone. About $15,000/ton. Hmmmmm, where can I get used phones
A google search shows that phone recycling for charity has become a booming business.
Problem on a a small scale is the difficulty of processing the phones without poisoning yourself, or being put in jail for 50 years for smelting out the metal and putting out a toxic plume over your neighbors
There is a good site on gold recovery: You must be logged in to see this link.
It's got some good info on safely recovering gold that may keep you out of the ER...or the morgue
|
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." Thomas Jefferson
|
 |
|
|
LarryB
New Member
Canada
24 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2008 : 23:26:35
|
Wow, that's a very interesting bit of news! Who would have thunk it? Thanx for sharing.
lb |
Sorta Gettin' Rich... Slowly
Cheers,
LarryB
larrybass.blogspot.com
|
|
|
|
TexasPQ
Penny Sorter Member
47 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2008 : 11:35:24
|
"Problem on a a small scale is the difficulty of processing the phones without poisoning yourself, or being put in jail for 50 years for smelting out the metal and putting out a toxic plume over your neighbors"
This is exactly what people do. A lot of our cell phones end up in Africa where people scrap and burn them down to get at the metals.
Here is a link to an interesting article on recycling cell phones:
You must be logged in to see this link.
|
|
|
|
wolvesdad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2008 : 16:22:16
|
quote:
This is exactly what people do. A lot of our cell phones end up in Africa where people scrap and burn them down to get at the metals.
Here is a link to an interesting article on recycling cell phones:
You must be logged in to see this link.
Good article! |
"May your percentages ever increase!" |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Urban Mining
Forum Locked
