Many devices that everyone has at home and which are often thrown away contain gold. With gold prices hitting record highs, scrap dealers are now in constant pursuit of these devices.
As technological devices become more and more common every day, it has been discovered that many of them, often thrown away or given to scrap dealers in exchange for a few coins, actually contain 22-karat gold. The computer and smartphone motherboards that everyone has at home and which are often thrown away due to malfunctions or lack of updates actually contain a little money.
Thus, some phone repairers make a living from discarded devices, thanks to the connectors on the motherboards of computers and phones which are gold plated. “Motherboards are found in most electronic systems and 99% of the alloys you see in gold are gold,” says a scrap dealer. He learned this trade from a man who bought motherboards by the kilo. “I had a lot of faulty phones. I spent about a week removing their motherboards. Then I looked online how to extract gold from these motherboards. You pour them into a filled iron drum of acid. All the motherboards have dissolved and the gold is coming to the surface.
It is not possible for a person to extract gold themselves, a special alloy is needed and it is dangerous. This gold is not only found in smartphones and computers, but also in many electronic devices because it is an excellent conductor. For this reason, it is advisable not to throw away these devices or sell them cheaply to scrap dealers, but rather sell them to specialized recyclers.
In fact, these recyclers will give you a better price for your devices and above all, they will prevent worthless plastic parts from being thrown into nature. Motherboards contain environmentally harmful substances, including heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury. They also contain potentially toxic brominated flame retardants. Landfilling or improper disposal can lead to environmental contamination.