Compiled by GERARD GIMINO, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
WITH the price of gold soaring to new highs, a man went viral on Chinese cyberspace for supposedly extracting more than 210,000 yuan (RM120,662) of gold just from SIM cards, reported Sin Chew Daily.
A man from Guangdong province, who goes by the handle Qiao the Hakka Gold Refiner online, shared a video, which went viral, on how he extracted the 191.73g of gold from electronic waste.
When contacted, Qiao said media reports oversimplified his endeavour.
He explained that the gold was obtained after processing nearly two tonnes of electronic waste.
He added that his operation was a regulated precious-metal recycling process targeting specific electronic wastes, not a story about an average man refining gold from discarded SIM cards.
It is understood that SIM card chips have an extremely thin layer of gold plating on their pins and circuit connections to improve conductivity and resistance to corrosion.
Bank card chips, identity cards and other electronic components share similar designs.
Industry experts say that a single ordinary SIM card contains only 0.006 to 0.01mg of gold, making the process economically viable only through long-term, large-scale collection.
The refining process takes several weeks and involves strong acid dissolution, electrolytic reduction, and other chemical procedures, which must be carried out in environments equipped with professional equipment and protective measures.
“The purpose of sharing the video was to showcase the process and recycling value, not to create hype,” he added.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
