Chinese man extracts gold worth Rs 27 lakh from old SIM cards

At a time when soaring gold prices are causing concern worldwide, a Chinese man has stunned social media by earning nearly ₹27 lakh by extracting gold from old SIM cards and electronic waste.
The man, identified as Qiao from Guangdong, reportedly collected nearly two tonnes of discarded SIM cards and electronic chip waste.
Using a painstaking extraction process, he managed to recover about 191 grams of gold from the material.
According to estimates, the recovered gold is valued at around ₹27 lakh in Indian currency. Qiao documented the entire process in a video and shared it on social media, where it has gone viral over the past two days, garnering millions of views.
Old SIM cards and computer chips are coated with an extremely thin layer of gold to prevent corrosion and to ensure efficient data transmission. Qiao demonstrated how this gold plating can be separated through repeated rubbing, rolling, and chemical treatment.
The extraction process involved soaking the waste material in large tanks filled with chemicals and subjecting it to multiple stages of purification. The video also showed that the work was highly risky, involving the use of strong acids and high-temperature heating.
Experts have cautioned that while the process highlights the hidden value in electronic waste, it is not a simple or safe task and should not be attempted without proper technical knowledge and safety measures. The episode has once again drawn attention to the potential and dangers of informal e-waste recycling.