Precious Metal Recycling
Also: Secondary Recovery, Scrap Gold Recycling, Urban Mining, Scrap Recovery
Precious metal recycling refers to the recovery of gold, silver, and platinum group metals from scrap material such as jewellery, electronic waste, and industrial residues through chemical or thermal processing methods.
Recycling is, after primary mining, the most important source of new precious metal volumes on the world market. While a gold mine often yields only 1–5 grams of gold per tonne of rock, one tonne of processed electronic scrap contains many times that amount — which is why industry experts speak of urban mining: the city as an ore deposit.
Where Does the Recycling Material Come From?
The raw material sources can be divided into three main categories:
| Category | Typical Sources | Primary Metals |
|---|---|---|
| Jewellery & Scrap Gold | Broken gold, heirlooms, reworkings | Gold, silver, platinum |
| Industrial Residues | Catalytic converters, laboratory equipment, dental alloys | Platinum, palladium, rhodium, gold |
| Electronic Scrap (E-Waste) | Circuit boards, contacts, connectors, mobile phones | Gold, silver, palladium |
| Coins & Bars | Sales by private investors, distress sales | Gold, silver |
Dental gold and dental alloys form their own niche: typical dental alloys contain gold between 585 and 900 ‰ (14–22 ct) as well as palladium and platinum, and are processed by specialised refineries.
How Does Recovery Work?
Industrial refining (affinage) uses different processes depending on the source material:
- Pyrometallurgy (smelting): The scrap material is melted at high temperatures. Base metals are separated via slags; precious metals collect in a lead or copper collector phase. Typical for catalytic converters and electronic scrap.
- Hydrometallurgy (wet chemistry): Precious metals are selectively dissolved using aqua regia (hydrochloric/nitric acid) or cyanide leach solutions and subsequently recovered by electrolysis or precipitation. Enables very high purities.
- Combined processes: Large-scale plants such as those of Umicore or Heraeus couple both stages — pyro as a preliminary step, hydro for fine refining — achieving recovery rates of up to 99% for gold.
You can estimate the current market value of your scrap material in advance using the melt value calculator.
Significance for the Precious Metals Market
Recycling acts as a supply buffer: when the gold price rises sharply, more investors and dealers bring scrap material into circulation — the additional supply tends to moderate the price increase. When the price falls, recycling volumes decline, supporting supply. This counter-cyclical behaviour fundamentally distinguishes recycling from mine production, which responds to price changes only with a delay of years.
The same principle applies to silver: the industrial share is higher, which is why recycling from photovoltaic systems, electrical equipment, and photography is particularly significant.
Environmental and Sustainability Aspect
Recycling requires considerably less energy than extracting primary ores and avoids the land-intensive interventions of open-pit mining. It thereby makes a measurable contribution to concepts such as Responsible Gold and Fairtrade Gold. At the same time, it reduces demand for conflict gold from problematic mining regions.
Note: The tax treatment of proceeds from the sale of scrap gold (e.g. holding periods, tax-free allowances) varies by individual circumstance. This does not constitute tax or investment advice.
Key Takeaway
Recycling supplies approximately one quarter of annual gold supply and is an indispensable component of a stable precious metals market. The recovery rates of modern refineries far exceed the yield of primary mines — and at considerably lower resource consumption.