{"id":19412,"date":"2026-08-04T18:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T18:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=19412"},"modified":"2026-08-04T18:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T18:57:08","slug":"britains-royal-mint-strikes-gold-in-electronic-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=19412","title":{"rendered":"Britain&#8217;s Royal Mint strikes gold in electronic waste"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p>At the heart of Britain\u2019s coin factory, old Bank of England telephones are stripped down and dipped into giant vats to recover a hidden treasure: the gold in their circuits.<\/p>\n<p>Behind barbed wire and coded security gates at its site near Cardiff in Wales, the Royal Mint \u2014 the state-owned maker of British coins as well as medals \u00a0\u2014 is turning electronic waste into luxury jewellery.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The initiative remains unusual in a sector where much electronic waste never reaches proper recycling facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Opened two years ago, the plant can process around 4,000 tonnes of electronic waste a year, containing \u201cabout 400 kilos of gold\u201d, said the Mint\u2019s development director, Sean Millard.<\/p>\n<p>Behind him, a largely automated line of chemical vats is off limits to cameras because the process is patented by a Canadian company, Excir.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 New process \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Each Bank of England office phone recycled here contains around 30 milligrammes of gold, worth around three pounds ($4.00) at current prices. A modern smartphone contains roughly four pounds\u2019 worth of the metal.<\/p>\n<p>Gold is prized in electronic circuits because it conducts electricity well and does not corrode.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But its chemical stability also makes it difficult to recover from electronic waste.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike many recyclers, which melt electronic waste in bulk, the Royal Mint dismantles devices first.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Copper, tantalum and even the plastic from circuit boards are sorted and sold to specialist recyclers.<\/p>\n<p>Gold is traditionally recovered either by smelting at very high temperatures or by using corrosive acid mixtures that generate hazardous waste.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the Royal Mint uses a process that dissolves the gold at room temperature.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no external energy input and it can be reused for batch after batch of feedstock,\u201d said Kate Griffiths, a chemical analyst at the Royal Mint.<\/p>\n<p>She demonstrates the process by placing electronic components in a chemical bath and adding reagents one by one until a fine gold powder forms.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 \u2018Win-win\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Once refined to improve its purity, the extracted gold is used to make jewellery for the Royal Mint\u2019s \u201c886\u201d brand, which refers to the date the institution was founded.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The mint also uses recycled silver, some of it extracted from old radios supplied by British hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>In the jewellery workshop, quieter than the Royal Mint\u2019s coin-pressing halls where he used to work, 63-year-old John Powell carefully polishes a ring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to tell you whether I\u2019m working with the recycled or the normal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Worldwide, only 22.3 percent of electronic waste was properly collected and recycled in 2022, according to a United Nations report.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Improper recycling can release lead, mercury or plastics into the environment and contribute to climate change, the report warned.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, soaring gold prices have made recovering increasingly attractive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The metal climbed to a record high of nearly $5,600 an ounce at the end of January amid global economic uncertainty, though it has since fallen back to around $4,000.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen the price of gold is really high, the cost of processing the waste to recover the gold is irrelevant,\u201d making alternative solutions commercially viable, said Jason Hallett, a professor of sustainable chemical technology at Imperial College London.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a win-win,\u201d he said, as long as the extraction processes do not send energy consumption or emissions soaring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Britain&#8217;s Royal Mint strikes gold in electronic waste<br \/>\n<br \/>#Britains #Royal #Mint #strikes #gold #electronic #waste<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At the heart of Britain\u2019s coin factory, old Bank of England telephones are stripped down&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[5609,3073,4661,14990,1897,1030,1470],"class_list":["post-19412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-britains","tag-electronic","tag-gold","tag-mint","tag-royal","tag-strikes","tag-waste"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef.jpg",768,511,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef.jpg",640,426,false],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef.jpg",640,426,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef.jpg",768,511,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef-768x500.jpg",768,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0b9da8e3bddd4df1c9f1d0612d66da557a4740ef-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}