Mobile(cell) phones- real data from refiner

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Todor

Active member
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
27
Hi to all here, I would like to share with you my experiense with Umicore. Sent them 2 monts ago, 2 tons of mobile phones and i have got the results:
AU- 311 grams per ton, payed 95%
AG- 1333 grams per ton, payed 96%
PD - just 40 grams per ton, payed 92%
CU- 18% per ton
(1 MT has 16000-17000 pieses without batteries)
And their treatment and samplaing charge is 3500 dollars, transport 1000 dolars( Iam from Bulgaria). So does it worth it.....no one will give you a phones for free so there is just a little room for profit. Atleast I have tried.

I cant answer my self one thing, why most of the scrap companies(not refiners like Umicore) in Europe pay like 8 Euros for kg cell phones, there is just no room for profit.

Best regards, everyone
 
Thanks for sharing the data Todor!

Was this with the plastic cover still on or just clean circuit boards?
Did you get any payout on the copper? Anything else they pay for? (tin, lead, tantalum...)

Regards, Göran
 
Same question here: Whole phones?
Only other metal they would pay on would be PT Goran, they should have paid on CU though.
 
Yes, whole phones(no cordless phones), just without batteries and back covers, with the plastics. They do pay for the CU, their charge is 30kg CU per MT material. No PT is mentioned in the report. I take the phones without batteries, so that is Someone else's problem.
 
Todor said:
I cant answer my self one thing, why most of the scrap companies in Europe pay like 8 Euros for kg cell phones, there is just no room for profit.

Best regards, everyone


some companies resell parts for reuse, it is very common in the recycling business

the 3 R's

reuse, recycle, reduce.

how much are you getting paid for the batteries ?
 
I cant answer my self one thing, why most of the scrap companies in Europe pay like 8 Euros for kg cell phones, there is just no room for profit.

My guess: The gold alone has a value of about 8,30€/kg, so someone who can process this on largest scale (for example aurubis) along with his copper smelting process gains free fuel and the value of most of the other metals.
 
Hi Tudor
i feel that all the numbers were low here is what i got from them on mixed boards from low to high trust me there was not to much high lots of TV boards and Mid grade
11,900 Kg

Au g/t 116.00
Ag g/t 905.00
Pd g/t 33.00
Cu % 21.430

i also feel that you should have some Pt in the cell phones i will have to see where i have the payout payment because i find the percentage was low.

RikkiRicardo
 
Hello ,

I see from first post here that refining company is Umicore.
Is Umicore working with private persons or you need to have company?

Also, is there any minimum requirments for minimum of material?

Are they correct ? Any info will help me.
 
perman666 said:
Hello ,

I see from first post here that refining company is Umicore.
Is Umicore working with private persons or you need to have company?

Also, is there any minimum requirments for minimum of material?

Are they correct ? Any info will help me.
PM sent.
 
Thanks for the data, Todor.

Just one question: You mention "payed 96%" etc - what do you mean by that? Is it the share of the yield you turn over to Umicore or what is it?

Thanks,
JustDigging
 
the results seems very low----in my experiments,i obtained 0,6 or more grams of gold per kilo---i retired about a year and half(18months) ago--but these results i remem
ber-----0,6au and0,15pd-----ag varied depending on the sistem that i used
regards to old forum friends
Arthur Kierski
 
thanks Gsp and Partnor for the welcome-----although retired,i entered the forum almost every day and read all the threads-
here in Brazil with many enviromental laws,became more dificult to obtain scraps---one needs to be oficial,that is controlled by a corrupt governement---
i still have my lab,and if something new appears(new type of scrap) i will do some research on it
regards
yours forum friends
Arthur
 
I'm going to say that those numbers pretty correct given my experiences dealing with Sipi and based off of what the other buyers are paying for cell phones. The margins are pretty small, it's more of volume game, to make money, from my experience. And then if you take a large downswing in the market, you can get kicked in the crotch pretty hard. Of course a large volume player is going to be able to negotiate out better %'s than what a small timer will ever get.

Me personally, I don't mind saving my materials until I have enough to be refined, but I'm not buying anymore (outside of mylar, which I've made arrangements to buy through other channels). I can make more than 15-25% with my money doing other things, or smaller returns that have a safer return. With a place like Sipi, all it takes is a bad sample/assay and you're losing money with how tight the returns are.
 
May 2007....maybe they want to "close the loop".....and gain more.....

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=13219&p=160196&hilit=umicore#p160196


See page 13(on the pdf document...Umicore)....and you will find that .......the number were very low....
 
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