KOSAKA, Akita Pref. (Kyodo) A smelting and refining factory here is producing gold, silver and other precious metals from electronic circuit boards, turning mountains of waste in major cities into "urban mines."

"About 20 percent (of such metals) is produced by recycling the circuit boards of electronic devices," said Ikari Tsuchida, 35, chief of the recycling section at Kosaka Smelting & Refining Co., an affiliate with Dowa Mining Co.

The company commercialized the recycling business five years ago.