There’s Gold in Them Thar Relays

Electronics recyclers who take in cellular telephone relay station equipment may hold the map to a productive gold mine.

As cell phones have become more commonly used for long distance calls, newer switches are being equipped with gold-coated contacts to ensure clear signals can be sent from cell phones to more distant towers and exchange stations.

The trend is good news for the gold industry at a time when manufacturers of other electronic equipment have scaled back their use of precious metals.

There are billions of the switches located in cellular switching stations throughout the U.S. Companies such as Aromat Inc., New Providence, N.J., produce millions of the switches each month to support the growing cellular infrastructure.

According to the Gold Institute, Washington, the use of the gold-coated contacts in cell phones is one reason the use of gold in electronics in the U.S. has risen from 40 tons in 1990 to 59 tons in 1999.

Despite the trend by other equipment makers to use less precious metal, globally the use of gold in electronics applications rose from 215 tons in 243 tons in 2000.