# sim cards



## hfywc

hello grf members!

i have someone offering me 100lbs+ of sim cards for gold recovery.
according to the seller there are 1,300 sim cards/lb. does anyone has an idea how much gold is in a pound?

thanks for taking the time to read my post!

alan


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## Chiptech81

i would say not much, if some networks give these away for free


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## hfywc

thanks for the reply but i am looking for some figures to determine how much should i pay per pound. anyone?


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## niteliteone

Are you talkind about the cards on satellite receivers (size of cerdit card) or the sims from a cell phone :?: 

I have seen a couple of posts here on the forum for the satellite size cards, just don't remember much about or where to find them. 
Use the search term "satellite" on lazersteves google search engine.

A while back on feebay their was an auction for 1 lb of cell phone sims and the winning bid was around $140 US.

Sorry I don't have what you are looking for, but this is what do know.

Hope it helps.
Tom C.


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## grim

hi 
i remember seeing on a list that cell phone sim cards had 0.08 grams of gold per pound but dont take that as gosple 
if i can find the site i will post a link but it was a while back and the old memorys shot


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## samuel-a

hfywc 

Sim cards have about 0.8 - 1.1 sq. cm plated area (depands on type)
in sq. inches it's about 0.124 - 0.1705.... Sometimes there's plating of traces inside, you should check that also.

I don't know the exact plating thickness, but consider the fact that sim cards are designed to be removed and reinserted by the end user, i reckon platin thickness will be similar to fingers which is, in most cases 30 microinches. But tha't not guaranteed.

You can play with these numbers in my plating calculator to get some ideas of possible yields.

But best thing you can do, is to buy from him one or two lb and make up your own yield numbers. (and share with the forum later)


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## kuma

Hi all , how are tricks?
I hope all is well!
I remember a discussion on the forum about the gold content of sim cards and they were said to have around a milligram of gold on them.
1000 sim cards to a gram ,
1,300 sim cards per pound (?) = 1.3 grams gold per pound of sims X 100 (lbs) = 130 grams , or 4.18 troy ounce gold
(1 troy ounce gold from 31,103 simcards at 1mg gold per sim)
Numbers arn't my strong point , but I'm sure this is right , :roll: 
P.S. , I asked the local phone companies about maybe getting hold of some old sims from them for recycling , and was told 'no way' as the would still contain peoples personal phone numbers and details , may I ask what your secret is please? :lol: 
All the best , and kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:


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## Ocean

one of my buyers offered me $40/lb, but I would sell them on eBay instead.


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## hfywc

hello fellow members!


i am talking about 32k nextel type sim cards that you use in cellphones.
i bid on ebay and this seller sent me an email asking if i will be interested in sim cards by the pounds.

i managed to get a hand on one pound of the similar materials and on the process of brewing them in AR. in a short while i will find out how much gold it contains when i drop it.

until then....


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## patnor1011

hfywc said:


> hello fellow members!
> 
> 
> i am talking about 32k nextel type sim cards that you use in cellphones.
> i bid on ebay and this seller sent me an email asking if i will be interested in sim cards by the pounds.
> 
> i managed to get a hand on one pound of the similar materials and on the process of brewing them in AR. in a short while i will find out how much gold it contains when i drop it.
> 
> until then....



.... and another mystery will be somehow partially solved. 8)


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## hfywc

just to give you guys a heads up, i messed up on my first try. however i repeated the process but this time i only used 260 pieces of sim cards. i suspected that using AR to process sim cards as is will be troublesome because the clear coating of the plastic case will be digested as well.

to eliminate contaminations, i peeled the foils off the sim card casings. and then digested the foils in nitric. right now i am in the process of settling the gold powder. the partial settlings at the bottom and the color of the solution will tell you that there isn't much to expect.

if there are 1,300 sim cards to a pound, 260 will represent 1/5 of the lot. i can see that the partial settling at the bottom is about a pinch worth. not a lot. if i can't melt this down to a button, i will post a photo of the gold powder at the least.

thanks for bearing with me...


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## hfywc




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## niteliteone

Your doing a good job. Keep up the work. We would like to know how it comes out.

But you do realize that if you recover a lot of gold, we are all going to be bidding against you in future auctions :shock: :lol: 

Tom C.


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## hfywc

so that's the reason why you're giving me a pat on a back! :lol: 

hmmmmmm. maybe i should delay posting the result until i bought all the sim cards out there. :twisted:


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## hfywc

here's a photo of the finished product...260 sim cards is what it took.




however i can't divulge the weight of the bb just yet. 

i am trying to close a deal so i hope you guys can understand that. 
for the meantime how about a guessing game?
anybody want's to take a stab?


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## niteliteone

Looks like you did a good job on the sims.  
I'll guess it at 0.6g

Tom C.


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## hfywc

thanks tom c.!

i made a mess on my first try. so to be on the safe side i strip the foils out of its casing and used nitric to dissolve the base metals. everything else was straight forward from then on.


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## kuma

Hello all , how are tricks?
I hope all is well!
Hfywc , it's cool to see a bead pulled from some sim cards , nice work chief! 
I'll have a guess at the weight , say .5g ? :roll: 
All the best for now , and kind regards ,
Chris :mrgreen:


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## jack_burton

It looks good and pure, whatever the weight. Looks like some borax clinging to it as well? I'd say .7g

Nice work.


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## Claudie

It will be nice to know the yield on this type of material. I'll guess .27 grams not including the borax. :|


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## supercharged04

Bump. Because there were 17 people looking at this at 1 time.


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## Auggie

My guess is along the lines of Claudie, but I'll say .26g, going off of a milligram per SIM, which is what I always heard.

So, what's the result?


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## AztekShine

http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/28911037#doc

This says .8g per lb. which would mean his lil bb is .16g. But I think it looks alil bigger than that!


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## bagus

Well, I guess the yield will never be revealed by hfywc lol

Got to find it out by myself then :lol:


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## supercharged04

He must have had great results and dose not want to share the info. I have sent a private message to, with no response.


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## dripsta23

I think there is 2 oz of gold there


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## AztekShine

dripsta23 said:


> I think there is 2 oz of gold there


 :shock: :?: :roll:

Edit: I was thinkin of a pound of sims I apoligize


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## dripsta23

AztekShine said:


> http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/28911037#doc
> 
> This says .8g per lb. which would mean his lil bb is .16g. But I think it looks alil bigger than that!


oh ok


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## dripsta23

for 100+ pound of sim card gold at least 2 oz of GOLD


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## supercharged04

Ouch. http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-000-Sim-Card-Electronic-Scrap-Gold-Recovery-36-Troy-Ounces-/160763104625?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256e3a4d71


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## dripsta23

interesting..


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## Geo

36 OZT? someone is dreaming.isnt that 3 troy pounds?


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## AztekShine

dripsta23 said:


> for 100+ pound of sim card gold at least 2 oz of GOLD


 sorry man I was thinkn about a lb.


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## Geo

the Ebay listing description says that out of 2.5 pounds of sim cards there should be 1125 grams of gold recovered or 36 troy ounces. thats more weight than the total weight of the sim cards. :roll: :lol: :lol:


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## Claudie

I had to read it twice after reading your post, but the seller doesn't claim they should yield that much Gold, he is claiming that the total weight of the material is 36 Troy Ounces. :| 
Funny how words can confuse people, my brain is still tangled a little....


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## AztekShine

36 Troy. Without plastic card.


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## samuel-a

> Ouch. http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-000-Sim-Card-Electronic-Scrap-Gold-Recovery-36-Troy-Ounces-/160763104625?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256e3a4d71#ht_500wt_1182



If there are really 12,000 units in that lot, it might not be a bad deal.


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## hfywc

the weight of the bb for this particular sim cards is..... 0.2g on my small digital scale. the one on the photo has already been remelted. meaning i was able to weigh it first without the borax.

there are different kinds of sim cards. so the yield will definitely vary depending which type you are processing. i attached a photo for your reference. 

thanks everyone for your patience!


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## AztekShine

It looks like .8-1.3g so far per Lb.

It would be nice if they were all 1mg. I hope that's true and the PDF. I have is from some slacker.
From the looks of the diffrent sizes I dout they will all have the same Ammount .


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## AztekShine

samuel-a said:


> Ouch. http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-000-Sim-Card-Electronic-Scrap-Gold-Recovery-36-Troy-Ounces-/160763104625?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256e3a4d71#ht_500wt_1182
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If there are really 12,000 units in that lot, it might not be a bad deal.
Click to expand...


Not bad from an investment standpoint but you would only make around $50 or more if you get lucky... Your would get 12 o's of gold at around $707ish so u would make $70 as of today if their 1mg per card.


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## jake_66

I was the one that sold those 12,000 sim card modules on ebay. It took 4 months to save those up. I think there is 10,000 per reel and run through 6-10 reels a month. The modules are punched out of the reels and still contain the same gold plated content. Right now I saved up about five of those reels. They are listed on ebay with 5 days left currently check them out. I can get my hands on about 100 reels a year and 30,000 sim card module rejects a year. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/17-Pounds-O...264?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2573933188


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## Palladium

If you don't mind me asking Jake, what type of business are you in?
Welcome to the forum.


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## jake_66

A friend of mine works at a smart card manufacture and this stuff is the trash that I convinced them not to throw away because of the gold recovery that can be made from it. All the materials are safe from data because there is none ever put into them.


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## Palladium

Nice find!


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## robtrader

Greetings all,

Finally I find some people who may know what they are talking about!

Im in the UK, I have access to a lot of Sim cards, which are basically scrap (right now I have 1 shoe box full, plus many others - cant tell you weight for now) Anyhow, so in order to cash these in, could you help me with:

1) There is a company I could approach: http://www.allwastematters.co.uk/circuit-board-recycling.htm They seem to offer a service of recycling for me. Assuming I do this, from the previous discussions, what would I expect to produce, lets say per kilo (or 2.2lbs)?

2) Or would anyone reading this like to secure my supply? If so, I guess they wont be answering no.1!!

Thanks in advance.

Rob


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## danieldavies

hi rob. i'm from the uk. i would make a deal with you. let me know if you fancy it. 

dan


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## patnor1011

I recently processed one roll of sim card reel, exactly that type Jake pictured.
Weight was 700g and yield from it was 0,4g thats work out at 0,57g/kilo.


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## niteliteone

patnor1011 said:


> I recently processed one roll of sim card reel, exactly that type Jake pictured.
> Weight was 700g and yield from it was 0,4g thats work out at 0,57g/kilo.


Thank you Patnor, That *is* the kind of information needed for this type of material.


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## patnor1011

I already reported it while back in my main thread 
http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=11827&start=420

They look nice but are hard to wash due to nature of material, too many holes and places where tiny foils get stuck. Nice material if you get it free. This is what I would call prime ebay material - or better say typical ebay trap, it look better than what you actually recover.


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## malikjob07

i bought a sim card ribbons around two ton then i used a heat gun to took all the gold foils on the ribbon .....then i took a sample of foils to a jeweler and he told me that there is no sign of gold in the foils but i didn't convinced " like i said before" , so i asked for advice, should i see another jeweler or stop right here ?
Thanks


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## g_axelsson

Since when did jewelers became experts in electronic scrap? :roll: 

To my knowledge the only yellow metal that can work on a sim-card is gold. If it's yellow it's gold. How much is another question. Plating on sim-cards is very thin, you can find yield numbers on the forum with a bit of searching.

Göran


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## kurtak

Don't forget that under the gold plated contact pad there is an IC chip with gold bonding wires so if you are just processing them for the gold plating you are missing some of the gold

Kurt


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## patnor1011

kurtak said:


> Don't forget that under the gold plated contact pad there is an IC chip with gold bonding wires so if you are just processing them for the gold plating you are missing some of the gold
> 
> Kurt



I would say most of the gold. 
If the rolls are with all sims punched out then he is OK but in my case I did have some amount of un-punched sim cards on the roll. I removed them prior processing plating from the roll if I remember correctly.


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## kreatur

Hi guys.

1-2000 sim cards get through my hands monthly and I've just been throwing them away. Only recently did I find out they have gold on them.

I've never done any gold recovery, but I'll learn. I'm asking your opinion on the image below. It seems impossible to manually get rid of the plastic, can I somehow efficiently recover the gold without doing that?


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## rucito

Hi look here - https://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=15397&p=255142&hilit=sim+cards#p255142
and do not forget to say "thank you palladium"


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## pokermandown

I am down to my last few lots. So here is my advice: I used to recover the gold from the SIM cards, but I sell them on eBay and make lots of money. They continually sell well. Here is my price break down: I sell at least (3 lots of 500 SIMS) every single week, often 20 or more lots. Frankly been wondering for over a year what people are doing with them, that they keep buying them. But I don't complain. I just take the money and ship them out. I have sold close to 30 lbs of them. I wish my supply had not dried up.

gold price per g $38.59 
gold in 1 lbs sims	0.8	g
value of 1 lb sims $30.87 

Nanos 
500 sims weigh	50	g
Ebay price $19.99 
lots per lbs	9.1	
ebay price/lbs $181.11 

Micro Sims 
500 sims weigh	100	g
Ebay price $15.99 
lots per lbs	4.5	
ebay price/lbs $72.43 

Standard sims 
500 sims weigh	168	g
Ebay price $15.99 
lots per lb	2.7	
ebay price/lbs $43.12 

One of my auctions: https://www.ebay.com/itm/152996122800


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## archeonist

Last year I did an experiment for goldrecovery on 15000 telephone cards. There is gold on the outside (foils) and on the inside (little goldwires in an epoxy dot). Recovery of the foils gave me 3,42g for 15000 cards. From the remaining cards I processed a test batch. I incinerated the cards and followed the recovery process for regulair chips. I got around 2 grams for those 15000 cards.
So you can expert around 0,33g of gold for 1000 cards.
1300000 cards, you say you can purchase, would yield around 43g. But...

You have to get the gold out first.. And that is a real pain. It took a lot of work to process 15000 cards.

And.. My cards were from 1996-2004, I guess any cards of a later production date contain less gold. 

My post:
http://www.goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=26752


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