A Guangdong-based blogger claims to have successfully refined 191.73 grams of gold from scrap SIM card chips and other electronic components, using a series of complex processes like strong acid dissolution and electrolytic reduction. He even shared a video showcasing the so-called ‘SIM alchemy’ process, which made viewers eager to try it for themselves.
“Ten years of working is not as good as one year of collecting scrap,” one person commented on the viral video, asking the blogger to take her on as an apprentice to learn “chip alchemy.”
“SIM chips can be used to make gold? I’ve never heard of this before,” someone else wrote.
The blogger’s video caused quite a reaction on social media, but experts explained that the actual gold content of a SIM card chip is extremely low. The video claims that each card contains about 0.02 grams of gold, but the actual gold content is only 0.47 milligrams, which means itwould take about 400,000 SIM cards to extract 191 grams of gold.
Following the controversy around his video, the Guangdong blogger responded, clarifying that the materials used to extract gold were not only “ordinary SIM cards,” but rather a collection of gold-plated waste chips from the communications electronics field.
“What I want to clarify is that this isn’t a story about an individual refining gold from discarded SIM cards,” the Chinese blogger said. “It’s a legitimate process of refining specific electronic waste within the precious metals recycling industry. The purpose of the video was to showcase the process and recycling value, not to create a sensation.”
Experts warned those tempted to follow the blogger’s example that the gold extraction process showcased in the video requires the use of highly corrosive chemical reagents, posing significant safety hazards and environmental pollution risks.
