Selective dissolution of elemental gold from multi-metal sources in organic solutions
(PHYSorg.com Chemistry)

`Urban mining`, the recycling of precious metals from electronic gadgets, becomes ever more important, although processes that are both efficient and environmentally benign are still scarce. An international team of scientists has now looked deeper into gold dissolution, in particular, how organic thiol-containing compounds help dissolve elemental gold. Their study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie proposes selective, fast, and convenient thiol-assisted gold leaching processes.