Viral Video Shows Gold Extracted From Old Phones

Imagine pulling a gold bar out of your old cellphone! A viral video in China showed how a man extracted almost 192 grams of pure gold using mostly SIM cards and old chips.

At the current price, that bar is worth more than $28,000. Sounds like easy money, right? But before you smash your phone, here’s the catch: the creator, named Qiao, admitted that to get that amount he had to process 2 tons of electronic waste. Yes, mountains of old bank cards and cellphones.

According to expert Sun Yafei, gold is used in microscopic layers so that circuits do not fail, not for luxury. The most curious part is that, after all the work and the money spent on dangerous chemicals, Qiao’s real profit was barely 10 grams. Your SIM card has less gold than a grain of sand, so you’d better not play alchemist at home.