circuit board to extract Metals

Metal extraction from waste circuit boards is a resource recycling technology. Through professional equipment and process flow, precious metals such as gold, silver and copper can be effectively recovered. The main equipment includes crushers, sorters, smelting furnaces and electrolytic devices. The processing process is divided into four steps: physical crushing, sorting, smelting and electrolysis.

Metal extraction from waste circuit boards is a complex multi-step process, which mainly includes the following four key links:

Pretreatment stage
The circuit board is crushed into 1-2mm particles using a crusher, and then the ferromagnetic material is separated by magnetic separation equipment. This step prepares for subsequent metal separation.

Physical sorting stage
The eddy current sorter is used to separate non-ferrous metals, and the air flow sorter is used to separate lightweight plastics. Electrostatic sorting technology can further separate mixed metals to achieve a metal enrichment of more than 90%.

Chemical treatment stage
The metal is leached using acidic or alkaline solutions. Common leaching agents include aqua regia, cyanide solution, etc. By controlling the pH value and temperature, the target metal is selectively dissolved.

Metal recovery stage
Electrolysis is used to extract high-purity metals from the leachate, or chemical precipitation is used to recover specific metals. Finally, metal ingots are obtained through smelting to complete the entire recovery process.

In terms of economic benefits, 200-400 grams of gold can be extracted from each ton of waste circuit boards, which is much higher than the grade of native gold mines. Calculated at the current gold price, gold recovery alone can bring significant benefits. Combined with the recovery value of other metals such as copper and silver, the overall economic benefits are considerable. With the advancement of processing technology, the metal recovery rate continues to increase and the cost continues to decrease, further improving the economic feasibility of the project.

The environmental benefits of this technology are also significant. Through professional equipment processing, heavy metals and harmful substances in circuit boards can be avoided from polluting the environment and reducing the amount of electronic waste landfill. At the same time, metal recovery reduces primary mineral mining, energy consumption and environmental pollution. It is estimated that recycling 1 ton of copper can reduce 200 tons of ore mining, and the energy-saving and emission-reduction effect is obvious.

With the continuous growth of the amount of electronic waste, the scrap circuit board metal extraction industry has broad prospects. This technology not only creates economic value, but also promotes the development of the circular economy, achieving the dual goals of resource recycling and environmental protection, and is an important practice of sustainable development.