Caterpillar Inc Heavy Equipment CSR by GineersNow Engineering GineersNow Engineering Magazine November 2016 | Page 29

Photo by CleanAgency
SCOTTISH RESEARCHERS
FOUND BETTER WAY TO
RECOVER GOLD FROM E-WASTE
Gold can be found in today’s printed
circuit boards (PCBs) so it makes
sense that researchers would find
a way to extract them from used
PCBs.This recycling method is crucial
in today’s gold recovery processes
as mining companies are having a
hard time in exploring new sources
of this precious metal. According
to researchers, around 7% of the
electrical waste the world produces
is gold.
Now, Scottish scientists from
University of Edinburgh have
released their new findings on a
better way to extract gold from
old gadgets. Published in the
journal Angewandte Chemie,
their method of recovering gold
is safer and more effective than
current techniques. They have
estimated a total of 300 tonnes
of this precious metal recovered
from used electronics each year
if implemented.
Funded by the Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research
Council, the method involves
dissolving the metal parts of the
PCBs in a mild acid, then adding
an oily liquid, which contains a
chemical compound from the
team. This allows the gold to be
extracted from the other metals.
Professor Jason Love, the
research leader, said, "We are
very excited about this discovery.
We have shown that our
fundamental chemical studies on
the recovery of valuable metals
from electronic waste could have
potential economic and societal
benefits.”
NOVEMBER 2016
Mining Engineering and Its Importance
29