We haven’t written about sputtering targets in some time. But it’s worth revisiting the topic because money can be made recycling them. Sputtering targets are a very specialized kind of platinum scrap – and in some cases, of gold and silver as well. 

We have written about sputtering targets before on the Specialty Metals Blog. To review, they are multilayered disks that contain several different metals. When they are secured  inside a plasma plating tank and electrical current flows through them, their uppermost layer of metal (be it gold, platinum, or another metal) is dispersed into the plasma inside the tank.  Due to the flow of electrons, it adheres to the surface of whatever metal object is being plated.

A number of factors make certain kinds of precious metal scrap more desirable investments than others. 

These factors include the density and distribution of precious metal within the scrap. If one ounce of gold is distributed through two pounds of scrap, for example, that is a desirably, high density form of scrap. If that same single ounce of gold is distributed through two tons of dirt or sand, that makes for a less desirable investment. (It is easier to ship and process two pounds of material than it is to ship and process two tons.)

A man in Delaware emailed us recently to ask, “Are there any scrap gold buyers near me?” He explained that there were plenty of companies in his area that would be happy to buy gold jewelry, bullion, and coins from him if he walked through their front doors. But nobody in his area was in the business of buying the kind of gold scrap he wanted to sell – a bunch of old circuit boards and used sputtering targets that contained gold.

April 15th coming up soon and it is time to start thinking about taxes.

By the way, the deadline for filing our federal taxes in 2021 is April 15th. You might remember that in 2020, the filing deadline was extended until July 15th, because of Covid-19. But this year the filing deadline is again April 15th unless (of course) you file for an extension.

There is an old saying, “All that glitters is not gold.”

A similar thing could be said about platinum, which is “Not everything that contains platinum is worth recycling.” How can that be? It is true because even though platinum is worth a lot of money, not every kind of scrap that contains it is worth recycling. Why spend $100.00 to extract $5.00 worth of platinum, for example? It wouldn’t make any sense.

We’ve written about sputtering targets in the past, but a few recent calls made us think that this would be a good time to remind our readers that most used sputtering targets still contain precious metals that are worth extracting.

On Monday, July 20, 2015, the financial markets got a jolt when the trading price of gold in Asia suddenly plummeted to a five-year low. The impact was felt globally. Half the world away in London, the price fell 2% on news of the Asian price drop. One celebrity investment expert, CNBC’s Jim Cramer, got on air only hours later and advised people to buy gold at its low price, as a “hedge against inflation.” That’s traditional wisdom about buying gold and other precious metals – investors should buy and hold as a hedge against inflation. It’s good advice, but it makes us wonder why so few investment experts are recommending buying gold at low prices and then selling it when prices rise.