Mechanical Recycling — Precious Metals Output
The precious and trace metals present in the fine-powder fraction from mechanical e-waste processing — gold, silver, palladium, platinum, and copper — with their percentage ranges and the requirement to route this fraction to hydrometallurgical refiners for full value recovery.
| Metal | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Gold (Au) | 0.03-0.10% |
| Silver (Ag) | 0.10-0.50% |
| Palladium (Pd) | 0.01-0.05% |
| Platinum (Pt) | 0.005-0.02% |
| Copper (Cu) | 20-30% |
Beyond definitions
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How to read this table
- All percentages are weight fractions of the fine powder fraction — not percentages of total e-waste input.
- The copper fraction (20–30%) is the dominant component; precious metals are trace components within that copper-rich matrix.
- This fraction must be routed to a hydrometallurgical refiner to recover gold, silver, palladium, and platinum — selling it as copper scrap loses the precious metal value entirely.
About this table
When a mechanical e-waste plant shreds and grinds Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and electronic components, the fine powder fraction carries significant concentrations of precious metals — gold, silver, palladium, and platinum — alongside a large copper base. This table shows the metal percentages in that fine powder output. These concentrations are the input to the next processing stage: hydrometallurgical refining.
Gold content in the fine powder fraction runs from 0.03–0.10% by weight — higher than in raw equipment because the grinding step concentrates the metals relative to plastic, glass, and ceramic components that are removed in earlier separation stages. At 0.05% gold in a 100-kilogram batch of fine powder, there is approximately 50 grams of gold — worth a significant amount at bullion market rates. Silver at 0.10–0.50% is present in higher percentage than gold because silver is more widely used in circuit board contacts and plating applications. Palladium (0.01–0.05%) and Platinum (0.005–0.02%) are present in small but commercially meaningful quantities — their market prices are high enough that even trace amounts are worth recovering.
The copper fraction at 20–30% is the dominant metal by weight in the fine powder. Copper is the matrix metal that holds all the precious metals in concentrated form — the fine powder is copper-rich powder with trace precious metals embedded in it. Selling this fraction to a hydrometallurgical refiner (rather than to a general copper scrap trader) is essential for capturing the gold, silver, palladium, and platinum value. Selling it as generic copper scrap means the precious metals are processed away in the copper smelter without any value going back to the recycler. This distinction between routing to hydrometallurgy versus selling as copper scrap is one of the most commercially important decisions in the mechanical plant's output strategy.
Key insights
- The fine powder fraction from PCB grinding contains gold (0.03–0.10%), silver (0.10–0.50%), palladium (0.01–0.05%), and platinum (0.005–0.02%) — routing this to a hydrometallurgical refiner rather than a copper scrap trader is the single most value-critical dispatch decision in a mechanical plant.
- Silver content (0.10–0.50%) exceeds gold content (0.03–0.10%) by weight in this fraction — silver's wider use in circuit contacts and plating makes it the more abundant precious metal in standard mixed e-waste.
- Copper at 20–30% is the matrix metal that carries the precious metals — it is not background contamination but a recoverable and valuable component in its own right.
- A mechanical plant that sells fine powder fraction as generic copper scrap forfeits all precious metal value to the downstream smelter — this leakage represents a significant portion of the plant's theoretical revenue.
Methodology & sources
Metal percentages are based on typical fine-powder fraction composition data from e-waste PCB processing operations. Actual precious metal concentrations vary significantly with PCB type, model year, and origin — IT equipment PCBs carry higher gold than consumer appliance PCBs. These figures are planning estimates; actual precious metal content should be verified through assay testing of representative batches.
Related data tables
Gold Content by E-Waste Feedstock
Gold content by weight for five e-waste feedstock types — from medical analysers (4.76%, the highest) to personal computers and laptops (0.0004%) — used for precious metal yield planning in e-waste recycling.
Hydrometallurgical Plant — End Products & Buyers
The five high-purity metal outputs from a hydrometallurgical e-waste recycling plant — copper sheets, silver, gold ingots, palladium, and platinum, all at approximately 99.9% purity — with typical buyers including bullion dealers, jewellers, electronics manufacturers, and catalytic converter makers.
Mechanical Recycling — Ferrous Metals Output
Two ferrous metal output streams from e-waste mechanical recycling — iron alloys and steel (85–95% of the ferrous mix, sold to foundries and metal traders) and nickel-based alloys (5–15%, sold to nickel alloy manufacturers) — with typical output size and buyers.
Mechanical Recycling — Non-Ferrous Metals Output
The six non-ferrous metal fractions recovered from the eddy-current and density separation stages of a mechanical e-waste recycling line — aluminium, copper, brass, zinc, lead, and tin — with each metal's share of the non-ferrous stream and its output size.
PCB Plant — End Products & Buyers
The five output streams sold by an e-waste PCB recycling plant — with the crushed component mixture (precious metals fine powder) as the highest-value stream that must go to a hydrometallurgical refiner, plus ferrous, copper-rich, plastic, and residual fractions.