How much Gold & silver in a Smartphone?

The Amount May Surprise!

Wanting to call attention to the amount of rare and valuable metals used in a typical smartphone, scientists at the University of Plymouth, UK, put an iPhone in a blender, heated the pulverized result to 500 degrees C (932 degrees F), then the dissolved the powder in acid to separate out the materials.

The phone consisted of 900 milligrams of tungsten, 70 of cobalt, 36 of gold and 90 of silver. Most of the silver was used in electrical connections, switches and miniature components. The phone also contained more common materials such as 33 grams of iron, 13 of silicon and 7 of chromium, as well as smaller quantities of other abundant substances.

More than 1.4 billion smartphones are produced each year, and the scientists led by Arjan Dijkstra and Colin Wilkins, geologists from the University’s School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, wanted to illustrate the growing reliance on rare earth materials that puts new demands on the global mining industry.

Dijkstra said: “We rely increasingly on our mobile phones but how many of us actually think what is behind the screen? When you look, the answer is often tungsten and cobalt from conflict zones in Africa. There are also rare elements such as neodymium, praseodymium, gadolinium and dysprosium, not to mention quantities of gold, silver and other high value elements.”

Wilkins, Lecturer in Economic Geology, added in a prepared statement: “Mining can be part of the solution to the world’s problems. But we are now in a climate where people are becoming more socially responsible and interested in the contents of what they are purchasing. Partly on the back of this, several of the major mobile phone companies have committed to upping their recycling rates.

It is a positive sign that the throwaway society we have lived in for decades is changing, and we hope this project will encourage more people to ask questions about their own behaviors.”