As the world economy crumbles and we slide down the greasy metaphor towards financial disaster the wise investor might consider putting what remains of their money in something a little more solid than paper.
Property is right out, obviously, so many are plumping for the reliability of precious metals. This has led to a phenomenon called ‘Urban Mining‘, where enterprising companies strip dead mobile phones and similar gadgets down to their bones to get at the tiny amounts of gold hidden away in their components.
Well, I say tiny, but it seems that the average mobile phone contains more gold per gram than the average chunk of gold ore. A ton of gold yields around 5 grams of gold, but a ton of knackered phones can contain up to 150 grams. With gold selling for over $30 a gram, there is a lot of money to be made.
Copper, tin, silver and iridium can also be found in most handsets. Leaving these metals to rot in a landfill is Very Bad, environment-wise, so the Urban Miners are actually performing a valuable service as well as lining their pockets.
If you wanted to get in on the phone recycling act, but don’t fancy grubbing about in landfill sites, a company called Mazuma will happily send you some cash for your old mobile - then recycle it to a good home.
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