Royal Mint Partners with Excir on Extraction of Gold from E-Waste

The plant is expected to be operational within the next two years, the Mint press release said.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  Britain’s Royal Mint announced that it plans to launch a path-breaking technology in the UK, which will help it to recover gold, silver and other precious metals from discarded electronic waste such as mobile phones and laptops. The partnership represents a significant milestone for the Mint.

The state-of-the-art chemistry-based technology will be implemented at its site in South Wales. It noted that the process is currently being used at a small scale. The proposed plant would ensure large scale processing involving hundreds of tonnes of electronic waste per annum.

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The Royal Mint has already partnered with Excir- a startup company based in Canada that has developed technology to recover precious metals with a relatively high degree of purity from embedded printed circuit boards and other hardware in discarded electronic waste, said Sean Millard, Chief Growth Officer, the Royal Mint.

The technology will play a significant role in reducing the impact of electronic waste, while reclaiming valuable precious metals, which are often lost when the e-waste is sent to landfills or exported to other countries for processing.