Everyone using a mobile phone in our country – which means practically everyone – has some gold bling they aren’t necessarily aware of. The mobile phone system we use in Australia is know as GSM (originally standing for Groupe Spécial Mobile, a group formed by the Conference of European Posts and Telegraphs in 1982 to research the merits of a European standard for mobile telecommunications but later modified to mean Global System for Mobiles) which is the common standard across the world. GSM phones rely on a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module) which is used to identify the user and number on a carrier network. As with many electronic components, various rare-earth and precious materials are used. Gold, in particular, is often used for electrical contacts as it is a good conductor, although not as good as Silver, but, unlike Silver, it doesn’t tend to oxidise or corrode therefore connections remain solid.
Which brings us to SIM cards. Despite what many people think, SIM cards contain very little information – most SIM cards only have a capacity of 128KB and are encoded with the basic information to allow your carrier to identify your number. Some phones will store contacts on the SIM card, but with a variety of limitations, it is often seen as a better solution to store information on the phone. What is important though is for the SIM card to maintain electrical contact with the phone it is in. Which is where the gold comes in. Most SIM cards contain a tiny amount of gold. I wouldn’t rush out and pull the SIM card from your phone and try and create that gold necklace you have always wanted, but there are companies that are doing almost that.
In our unquenchable thirst for the latest technology products, the world generates over fifty million tonnes of electronic waste each year. It turns out that that waste converts into about $20 billion of precious metals wasted in old electronics each year.
There are organisations around the world that are trying to do something about that – and one in particular is focusing on SIM cards. Mining for gold is an expensive process with long lead times and large infrastructure costs. That is before the first gram is even pulled from the ground. Sandia National Laboratories in the US is the most advanced in its position as a new type of gold mine. They don’t create large open-pit or underground mines and they aren’t using cyanide leaching to extract the gold from the raw materials mined. Instead, they are collecting SIM cards as e-waste and extracting gold from the SIM cards. Sandia could quite safely claim they have the smallest gold mine in the world. There are other companies who are progressing down a similar path.
While e-waste may seem a small inconvenience at the moment and manufacturers are still buying raw materials from traditional miners, as worldwide mining resources continue to deplete and the materials are harder to obtain meaning the price increases, we will start to see e-waste producers become viable. Many manufacturers claim to be environmentally friendly, but the almighty dollar still rules the day. Once it is cheaper to extract materials from e-waste than it is to mine the same materials, e-waste will suddenly be the preferred method of extraction.
There are other methods, of course, of reducing our reliance on new materials. Many phone carriers around the world in wealthy countries (Australia; US and England for example) are now offering plans that incentivise clients to hand back in their old mobile phones. These are then refurbished and sold to customers in poorer countries for a lower price. Rather than extracting components the useful life of the product is extended.
It is a major problem for the world as we move forward but there are organisations, such as Sandia, working on solutions. And the next time your wife asks for some gold on her birthday, buy her a new phone with a new SIM card!
Mathew Dickerson