Kathrine Frich
Too many people just throw them away.
You have most likely thrown it away without giving it much thought.
Old motherboards, worn-out computers, and obsolete electronic gadgets often end up in the trash – but what if we told you that you are actually discarding a potential goldmine?
Literally.
The Method
Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a method to extract gold from electronic waste in a way that is so sustainable that even the most ardent environmentalists would applaud.
And the most surprising part of it all? The secret lies in something as innocent as cheese.
This is according to Huffington Post.
The process uses a byproduct of cheese production, which has an almost magical ability to extract precious metals from waste.
First, metal parts from old motherboards are dissolved, ionizing the metals. Then, the byproduct binds to the gold ions and extracts them from the solution.
When the substance is heated, the collected gold particles are released, which are then melted together into a 22-karat gold nugget.
Experiments Showed Promising Results
In an experiment, researchers successfully extracted a 450-milligram gold nugget from just 20 old motherboards.
The nugget consisted of 91 percent gold and 9 percent copper and was valued at 33 dollars (approximately 237 Danish kroner, ed.).
This may not sound like much, but considering the vast quantities of electronic waste produced globally, the potential is enormous.
So, the next time you consider throwing out your old computer, think again. Perhaps it’s not just trash, but a small treasure waiting to be “unearthed.”
