Contacts & relays · Tier D

USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, RJ45 & audio jacks

The shiny shells on USB and HDMI are nickel-plated steel, not brass. You're buying magnet-grade scrap and calling it gold.

Au 0.1–0.5 g/lbCu ~80 g/lb

eBay typical$15–60per lb

Refiner pays$12per lb

Metal in it$33.5per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencelowof the yield figures

How to spot it

USB-A/B/C, HDMI, DisplayPort and RJ45 jacks along the I/O edge of any board, plus 3.5 mm barrel jacks. The contacts are the thin springy tongues inside; the shell, latch and shield tabs are drawn steel with nickel plate. RJ45 jacks show eight gold hooks through the front opening.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Gold	0.1–0.5 g/lb	calculated — flash gold on these is roughly 2–8 µin; RJ45 is the only one commonly at 15–50 µin
Copper	~80 g/lb	phosphor bronze contacts; the shells are steel, not brass

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $33.5 per pound of contained metal — Gold 0.25 g = $32.6, Copper 80 g = $0.86. A refiner paying $12 returns about 36% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: Hot air 350–380 °C

Hot air at 350–380 °C — these have large ground tabs soldered into thick copper planes and need real heat. Faster: snip the plastic away, pull only the contact combs, and hit the shells with a magnet so steel goes straight to the ferrous bin. RJ45 hooks are the one fraction worth saving cleanly.

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.

☣ Beryllium copper

NEVER put BeCu in a grinder, a sandblaster, or a melt.

The common trap

"Gold-plated HDMI" marketing has convinced people these are high grade. A whole USB-A jack holds a few tenths of a milligram of gold. Telecom-spec RJ45 jacks are maybe 5–10× the rest of the group and still only a few dollars per pound.

Questions

How much gold is in usb, hdmi, displayport, rj45 & audio jacks?

Gold: 0.1–0.5 g/lb. Copper: ~80 g/lb. At current spot that is about $33.5 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify usb, hdmi, displayport, rj45 & audio jacks?

The shiny shells on USB and HDMI are nickel-plated steel, not brass. You're buying magnet-grade scrap and calling it gold.

How do you remove usb, hdmi, displayport, rj45 & audio jacks safely?

Hot air at 350–380 °C — these have large ground tabs soldered into thick copper planes and need real heat. Faster: snip the plastic away, pull only the contact combs, and hit the shells with a magnet so steel goes straight to the ferrous bin. RJ45 hooks are the one fraction worth saving cleanly.

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