How much gold is there in cell phones? (2023)

How much gold is there in your phone?

There is only about 1/35th of a gram of gold in an average cell phone's interior. Not much, because gold is super malleable and gold is so soft and nontoxic, we can eat gold sheets and shavings.

Smartphones contain about 60 different elements – including not only gold but copper and silver too. All three are good conductors of electricity, and circuits usually receive a thin covering of gold because it doesn't corrode and so ensures a durable connection.

When you look at your cell phone or smartphone next time, think of this: it has gold in it. Because it is does not corrode or rust, gold is used in those tiny connectors on the integrated circuit (IC) boards that make your cell phone such a marvellous device.

Extracting Gold From Used Cell Phones - YouTube

Some other sources estimate that your average computer contains about 1/5th of a gram, or about $12 worth, of gold in them. Laptops, on the other hand, typically contain about 1/10th of a gram of gold, or around $6 worth.

Here are some “golden age” items that have large printed circuit boards and therefore, comparatively large quantities of gold. Jumbo old video-playing devices like VCRs and Sony Betamax players. Old camcorders – the bigger the better. Early digital still cameras – again, the bigger the better.

Televisions are made of several different materials. Some of the most valuable components of an older CRT monitor are metals. CRT TVs usually contain parts made of copper, gold, iron, steel, and many more, all of which can be refined for the manufacturing of new products.

To look at it another way, Umicore says a tonne of old phones (weighed without their batteries) yields about 300g of gold.

Do printers have gold in them?

Laptops, phones, cameras, and the like are filled with gold plated circuit boards even printers and scanners have gold, silver, and copper, even platinum in them. Gold is a precious, conductive, and pliable metal that retains a stable value better than many commodities.

An adult human body weighing 70 kg contains about 0.2 milligrams of gold. It's been found that the element plays an important health function, helping to maintain our joints, as well as facilitating the transmittal of electrical signals throughout the body.

Steel, fiberglass and rubber are all commonly recognized components in modern automobiles, but you can also find a substantial amount of Precious Metals in cars. The most significant uses are Platinum and Palladium in catalytic converters, along with Silver and Gold in electronic circuit boards.

It depends on the type of RAM cards. DDR Ram cards? about 1.2 grams gold per 1 kg. DDR 2 & 3 Ram cards? about 3.75 grams gold per 1 kg. RD Ram chips? about 5 grams gold per 1 kg.

Ever noticed those shiny gold-colored parts on the circuit boards? Those bright pieces of metal are, in fact, gold. Gold is used on electronic circuit boards because of its excellent conductive properties and because it doesn't corrode or rust over time.

Gold is unaffected by vinegar because it is a stable metal and will not react with oxygen. That means it will not change color, develop crystals, or disintegrate.

Gold-bearing circuit boards are increasingly used in appliances like microwaves, air conditioners, refrigerators, and kitchen stoves. A good rule of thumb is: The more technological features that an appliance has, the more likely it is to contain small amounts of gold.

There are two standard methods for extracting gold from electronic scraps: burning off the gold using high temperatures, which is energy intensive, expensive, and releases toxic gases.

The majority of a device's weight comes from less valuable material like plastic and glass. A scrapped, shredded laptop might end up being worth about $10 per pound of material, maybe more if it is an older device and contains more gold.

Is scrapping gold from computers worth it?

The boards from 100 computers could yield as much as $3,000 worth of gold. And you might be able to get older computers for free, just by offering to haul them away. The circuit boards found inside a single newer laptop can contain gold worth between $15.00 and $25.00.

Piles of printed circuit boards and other electronic scrap are burned, leaving behind ash and the gold they contain. Quantities of dust and dirt found in old jewelry factories can be burned, leaving both ash and quantities of gold, silver and other precious metals.

Catalytic converters contain Platinum, Rhodium and Palladium. However, there is no gold in catalytic converters.

Computer CPU's (processors) have the most precious metal value by weight, followed by Memory (RAM) & Circuit Board Fingers / Connectors / Pins, then Circuit Boards (Motherboards), then cables / wires, with hard drives & whole computers being last.

We believe it conservative to say with today's gold price, over $10 of gold gets layered in an average computer. In other words, 1/5th of a gram of gold can get pulled or withdrawn from an average computer's interior.

Computer CPU's (processors) have the most precious metal value by weight, followed by Memory (RAM) & Circuit Board Fingers / Connectors / Pins, then Circuit Boards (Motherboards), then cables / wires, with hard drives & whole computers being last.

"There's gold in waste - literally. It takes a ton of ore to get 1g of gold. But you can get the same amount from recycling the materials in 41 mobile phones." This seems to be largely correct, whether the commissioner was talking about an imperial ton, or a metric tonne (one is 1,016kg, the other 1,000kg).

A typical iPhone is estimated to house around 0.034g of gold, 0.34g of silver, 0.015g of palladium and less than one-thousandth of a gram of platinum.

The majority of a device's weight comes from less valuable material like plastic and glass. A scrapped, shredded laptop might end up being worth about $10 per pound of material, maybe more if it is an older device and contains more gold.

How much gold is in a RAM?

It depends on the type of RAM cards. DDR Ram cards? about 1.2 grams gold per 1 kg. DDR 2 & 3 Ram cards? about 3.75 grams gold per 1 kg. RD Ram chips? about 5 grams gold per 1 kg.

Televisions are made of several different materials. Some of the most valuable components of an older CRT monitor are metals. CRT TVs usually contain parts made of copper, gold, iron, steel, and many more, all of which can be refined for the manufacturing of new products.

So, it begs the question: how much gold is in a computer, laptop, or cellphone? A computer contains about 0.2 grams of gold, valued at about $12. Each laptop has 0.006 grams of gold, and you'd need 7,500 such devices to get a kilo of gold. Then, a cellphone contains about 0.034 grams of gold, worth about $1.83.

Gold recovery from SIM Card cell phones Sim cards recycling gold

Motherboards – the biggest circuit boards inside both laptops and desktops – often contain the “mother lode” of gold in used computers. Their edges have gold contacts and connectors where wires slide on. You will also find thin layers of gold applied to motherboards' surfaces.

Your old phone is a veritable gold mine - YouTube

There are two standard methods for extracting gold from electronic scraps: burning off the gold using high temperatures, which is energy intensive, expensive, and releases toxic gases.

How much is a 24k gold bar? A 1-ounce 24-karat gold bar is worth more than $1,800 as of June 9, 2022. Many gold bars that are close to 100% purity carry the 24-karat description.

Hong Kong, China

Take a retail pilgrimage to Hong Kong this Diwali and shop for gold at the most reasonable prices. Hong Kong is also one of the most active gold trading markets around the world, and is a price setter for other places around the world.

It weighs a whopping 27.4 pounds/400 oz (we were right to wonder how people are carrying them). At current prices a single bar is worth about $750,000 American. A Good Delivery bar's gold content is allowed to vary between 350 and 430 troy ounces, and the minimum purity is 99.5% gold.