Recycling of Precious Metals
Also: Secondary recovery, Scrap gold recycling, Urban mining, Scrap recovery
The recycling of precious metals 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.
After primary mining, recycling is 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 a multiple of that – 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 fall into three main categories:
| Category | Typical sources | Main metals |
|---|---|---|
| Jewellery & scrap gold | Broken gold, heirlooms, remodelling | Gold, silver, platinum |
| Industrial residues | Catalytic converters (vehicles), laboratory equipment, dental alloys | Platinum, palladium, rhodium, gold |
| Electronic waste (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 affinage uses different processes depending on the starting material:
- Pyrometallurgy (smelting): The scrap material is melted at high temperatures. Base metals are separated off 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 out using aqua regia (hydrochloric/nitric acid) or cyanide leaches and then recovered electrolytically or by precipitation. Enables very high purities.
- Combined processes: Large plants such as those of Umicore or Heraeus couple both stages – pyro as the first stage, hydro for fine refining – and thus achieve recovery rates of up to 99% for gold.
You can estimate the current market value of your scrap material in advance with the Melt Value Calculator.
Significance for the precious-metals market
Recycling acts as a supply buffer: if the gold price rises sharply, more investors and dealers bring scrap material into circulation – the additional supply tends to dampen the price increase. If the price falls, recycling volumes decline, which supports supply. This counter-cyclical behaviour fundamentally distinguishes recycling from mine production, which reacts to price changes only after a delay of years.
The same principle applies to silver: the industrial share is higher, which is why recycling from photovoltaic installations, electrics and photography is of particular importance.
Environmental and sustainability aspect
Recycling requires considerably less energy than mining primary ores and avoids the land-intensive impacts of surface mining. It thereby makes a measurable contribution to concepts such as responsible gold and Fairtrade gold. At the same time, it eases demand for conflict gold from problematic mining regions.
Note: The tax treatment of proceeds from selling scrap gold varies individually. In Malta, there is no capital gains tax on private disposals of movable assets such as precious metals – Maltese capital gains tax applies only to specific assets (immovable property, securities, business interests). This does not constitute tax or investment advice.
In brief
Recycling supplies roughly a 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 significantly lower resource use.