Royal Mint Turns Electronic Waste into Gold

The Royal Mint in Britain is making gold from electronic waste, turning old devices into luxury jewelry. The plant, opened two years ago near Cardiff in Wales, can process around 4,000 tonnes of electronic waste a year, containing about 400 kilos of gold.

Sean Millard, the development director at the Royal Mint, explained that each Bank of England office phone contains around 30 milligrammes of gold, worth around three pounds at current prices. A modern smartphone contains roughly four pounds' worth of metal.

The mint uses a patented process from Canadian company Excir to dissolve the gold at room temperature without external energy input. The extracted gold is then used to make jewelry for the Royal Mint's '886' brand, which refers to the date the institution was founded.