University of Edinburgh licenses gold and copper recovery tech to Lithium Universe
Gold copper diamide extraction (GCDE) uses organic compounds to selectively extract metals from discarded electronics.
The exclusive worldwide licence enables Lithium Universe to deploy and sub-licence the technology globally.
E-waste is projected to reach 93.5Mt by 2030, yet only 20% is recycled with environmentally sound methods.
Traditional e-waste processing relies on furnace smelting at more than 1,200°C or aggressive leaching. The GCDE process is reported to use low-temperature hydrometallurgy and small, reusable, organic ligands to target metals in sequence under mild conditions. It reportedly avoids cyanide, mercury and organic solvent extraction.
Professor Jason Love, one of the co-developers at the university, says, 'The diamide behaves like a molecular magnet for gold. By following with a selective copper step, we can recover two of the most valuable metals in e‑waste with high purity and lower environmental impact.'
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