How much gold is in your mobile device?

You already own gold. The proof is that you are reading these words from a device that contains gold. Find out how much or why below.

Due to its unique properties, gold is a highly prized precious metal in the jewelry, medical, and electronics industries.

A more observant reader has also probably heard that gold is being used more and more in the production of various devices, such as smartphones, televisions and laptops that are in usage in everyday life. Did you know that gold is extremely ductile and can be made into a sheet that is only 2 atoms (0.47 nanometers) in thickness! That is really impressive, can’t deny.

Special features

Why gold, not some cheaper or less prestiguous metal? Namely, gold conducts both heat and electricity very well, which is why it is widely used in, for example, plugs, switches, connecting wires and relays. Gold is also favoured by the fact that it does not corrode or oxidize, making it a very reliable and dependable metal.

By the way, gold has a melting point of 1064 degrees Celsius, so it can be considered almost indestructible.

A tiny amount

Of course, gold is also used in the production of laptops, tablets, televisions and smartphones because of its properties. But how much is still there, and does that mean that old electronic equipment should now be dismantled?

Not quite. For example, an iPhone contains about 0.034 grams of gold, which is priced at around € 1.66 at current world market prices. As demolition itself can be relatively time consuming, this amount would probably not be worth the effort. However, if we were to collect a larger amount of useless smartphones, the idea would already quite profitable: one tonne of smartphones contain 300 times more gold than one tonne of gold ore. Thus, broken smartphones and other electronic devices, or e-waste, represent a kind of modern gold mine.

Different perspective

According to statistics, about 20% of e-waste is recycled every year. This means about 40 million tonnes of broken electronic equipment, in which the precious metals can be recycled. Although the first technological solutions for such processes already exist, it is still difficult and costly to do so with current solutions. However, there are already success stories: the victory medals for the Tokyo Olympics this summer were made of precious metals extracted from recycled electronic equipment. In fact, the Japanese donated almost 80 000 tonnes of electronic equipment during the pilot project, from which 32 kilograms of gold could be extracted. Thus, the fact that gold is indestructible and easy to reuse is further confirmed, and therefore turns a blind eye to other materials that do not suffer from recycling. This important fact makes gold all the more special and valuable.

In the end, the important thing to remember is that gold has various different usages in the everyday life of everyone. You are using help of gold right now to read these words. Therefore, gold can not be replaced by some other metal or synthetic material. Furthermore, gold can not also be manufactured, so your purchases stay always safe and sound, without ever devaluing or completely using their value.

Find your purchase here!