The Industrial Gold Supply Chain
From mined and recycled feed through refining, fabrication, use and recovery.
Why this topic matters
From mined and recycled feed through refining, fabrication, use and recovery. Gold is normally used only where its particular surface, electrical, optical or chemical behaviour adds enough value to justify the material.
How gold fits the system
Gold recycling is a materials-flow system: collection, sorting, concentration, professional recovery, refining and return to manufacturing.
Material tradeoffs
Manufacturing scrap is often easier to recycle than end-of-life electronics because composition and process history are known.
Manufacturing and quality
Open burning or improvised chemical extraction is unsafe and can release hazardous substances; recovery belongs with appropriate professional processors.
Lifecycle and recycling
Traceability, assay, mass balance and segregation improve both commercial accountability and recovery efficiency.