Mining Gold and Silver From Bombs by Rory - The Daily Coin
Most of the precious metals community understands the importance of gold and silver for military use. This aspect of the precious metals has actually been one of the more realistic concerns I have held for a number of years. When the USGS stated a few years ago that silver could be the first element on the periodic table to go extinct that should get the silver bugs attention for a variety of reasons. One of the more serious reasons would be strategic use - the creation of killing machines, bombs and all things destruction.
Of course those pesky Russians have begun mining their retired military equipment for the precious metals. My guess is Russia will be recycling most all the recyclable material from bombs and other military equipment. Steel, zinc or copper is not near as sexy as gold or silver so if someone begins a recycling program for these materials it doesn't make headlines - throw in gold and silver and now we have something to discuss!!
All of Russia's Topol mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles are due to be replaced with a modernized version of the Topol-M by the early 2020s.
Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos has announced a tender for the scrapping of nine Topol mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
According to the details of the offer, one can obtain 42 kilograms of silver and 1.8 kilograms of gold by dismantling the nine ICBMs. Source
42 kg = 92.594144 lbs worth of silver would certainly make it profitable to recover. Converted to ounces would be 1481.506304. When expressed in Federal Reserve Notes this "mining operation" would net $24,444.85 at the current, approximate, rate of $16.50/ounce
1.8 kg = 3.96832 lbs worth of gold. Converted to ounces equals 63.493 and then converted to Federal Reserve Notes equals $84,388.71 total at the current, approximate, rate of $1,329.40/ounce. Pretty fair amount of gold expressed in fiat terms.
It's not just the ICBM itself, but the parts are also included in the "mining operation". The parts contain gold, silver and platinum - added bonus to the overall operation. While platinum is not a monetary metal its not a metal that I would kick out of the vault!!
The document also stipulates that the contractor will have to return the proceeds gained from the sale of valuable metals to Russia's state coffers.
The Topol's parts reportedly contain approximately 198 grams of gold, 4.6 kilograms of silver and five grams of platinum. Source
We never hear anything like this type of operation coming out the U.S. or any other western nation. What happens to the old U.S. military artillery? Is it scrapped and recycled or sold to our "allys" as new-old stock?