Discovered a way to separate gold from trash using salt water and UV light

In the journal Nature Sustainability , the research team led by Professor Justin Chalker (Flinders University, Australia) said that this new technology helps separate gold without using toxic chemicals such as mercury or cyanide, opening up the prospect of completely changing the way people mine and recycle precious metals in a safer, cleaner and more sustainable way.

The key ingredient is trichloroisocyanuric acid, a chemical commonly used to disinfect swimming pool water and sanitize drinking water. Trichloroisocyanuric acid combined with salt water has the ability to dissolve gold. Next, the gold is "captured" by a sulfur-rich polymer, synthesized through a reaction initiated by UV light. Finally, the polymer is recycled through a depolymerization step, releasing the gold and regenerating the monomer for reuse.

Not only applicable to electronic waste such as computer components, phones, telecommunications equipment... this gold separation method is effective on ore samples, mixed metal scrap and other gold-containing sources. This opens up the possibility of urbanizing gold mining, taking advantage of resources that are being wasted in broken electronic devices.

Unlike the traditional method which is only suitable for industrial-scale mines, the new technology can also be applied on a small and medium scale such as in recycling villages or manual mining workshops, thereby reducing environmental pollution, improving working conditions, and effectively recovering precious metals from the increasingly piled up electronic waste.

More than just a technical innovation, this could be the precursor to a “green gold” revolution, where gold hidden in discarded equipment is mined using clean, circular, and sustainable technology for the future.

In the near future, this method could also reduce dependence on new mining. It also promises to significantly improve working conditions for millions of small-scale miners around the world, who face serious health risks.