MLCC — palladium-bearing (PME, pre-2000)

Board age, not appearance — manufacturers admit old and new chips look nearly identical. Pre-1998 boards and 1980s–early-90s telecom/industrial gear are the payload. Supporting cues: physically bigger (1206/1210/0805 and large through-hole monolithics), dull silver-grey Ag/Pd terminations that tarnish darker with age, and dull grey-brown / darker tan / blue-grey bodies.

Pd 2.3–9 g/lbAg 4.5–23 g/lbBase Ni

eBay typical$100–170per lb

Refiner pays$85per lb

Metal in it$184per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencemedof the yield figures

How to spot it

Small rectangular unmarked ceramic bricks clustered around ICs, regulators and power rails. Exception worth knowing: military and hi-rel MLCCs are still PME today — look for CDR, M123, MIL-PRF-55681 markings and the darker blue/brown hi-rel bodies on avionics and telecom boards. Old radial-lead epoxy-dipped monolithic caps (brown, blue or grey blobs with two legs, 1970s–80s) are frequently palladium-bearing too.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Palladium	2.3–9 g/lb	0.5–2 wt% in legacy PME parts
Silver	4.5–23 g/lb	1–5 wt%
Base metal	Ni, Sn/Cu terminations

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $184 per pound of contained metal — Palladium 4 g = $165, Silver 10 g = $19.0. A refiner paying $85 returns about 46% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: Preheat 240–280 °C / hot air 330–380 °C

Bulk methods only. Preheat plate or electric griddle at 240–280 °C, board component-side up, then scrape into a steel pan with a stiff putty knife. Hot air at 330–380 °C with a wide nozzle for selective picking. Sort into 'pre-2000 board' and 'post-2000 board' pails at the moment of removal — you cannot re-sort them later.

Hazards

☠ Lead — dust more than fume

NEVER dry sweep or use compressed air on a scrapping bench. HEPA-vac or wet-wipe only.

💨 Fumes, ventilation and open flame

NEVER burn boards, wire insulation or plastic. Ever.

Before you scrap it

There is no mainstream buyer — the big mail-in refiners don't list MLCC. You need a palladium/silver specialty refiner and an assay.

The common trap

The widely quoted "2–5% Pd, up to 10% Ag" applies only to pre-1990s chips. Applied to a modern desktop harvest it overstates by 10–40×. Also note palladium is currently trading below platinum, so MLCC value now leans on silver more than it used to.

Questions

How much gold is in mlcc — palladium-bearing (pme, pre-2000)?

Palladium: 2.3–9 g/lb. Silver: 4.5–23 g/lb. At current spot that is about $184 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify mlcc — palladium-bearing (pme, pre-2000)?

Board age, not appearance — manufacturers admit old and new chips look nearly identical. Pre-1998 boards and 1980s–early-90s telecom/industrial gear are the payload. Supporting cues: physically bigger (1206/1210/0805 and large through-hole monolithics), dull silver-grey Ag/Pd terminations that tarnish darker with age, and dull grey-brown / darker tan / blue-grey bodies.

How do you remove mlcc — palladium-bearing (pme, pre-2000) safely?

Bulk methods only. Preheat plate or electric griddle at 240–280 °C, board component-side up, then scrape into a steel pan with a stiff putty knife. Hot air at 330–380 °C with a wide nozzle for selective picking. Sort into 'pre-2000 board' and 'post-2000 board' pails at the moment of removal — you cannot re-sort them later.

Is mlcc — palladium-bearing (pme, pre-2000) worth more working than as scrap?

There is no mainstream buyer — the big mail-in refiners don't list MLCC. You need a palladium/silver specialty refiner and an assay.

Related in Capacitors

Tantalum capacitors Capacitors · $18–85/lb Ta 30–40 wt% of the capAg 1–3% in some B Ceramic disc capacitors Capacitors · $20–70/lb Ag 4–10 g/lbPd 0.05–0.3 g/lb C MLCC — modern nickel (BME, post-2005) Capacitors · $20–55/lb Pd 0.2–0.7 g/lbAg 1.4–2.7 g/lbBase Ni 5–20% C Silver mica capacitors Capacitors · $80–500/lb Ag 10–20 g/lbCu ~60 g/lb C Aluminium electrolytic capacitors Capacitors · $0.3–1/lb Base aluminium can D Film capacitors (polyester / polypropylene) Capacitors · $10–40/lb Cu ~20 g/lb D

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