At first blush this might seem an unusual practice for a unit of Noranda Inc., which is better known for mining copper, zinc and precious metals out of the ground.

But it's not that strange when the innards of these electronic devices reveal their hidden traces of gold, silver, copper and platinum - a veritable mine above ground. And a profitable one, according to Steve Skurnac, president of Noranda Recycling.

Previously known as Micro Metallics, Noranda Recycling is the world's biggest processor of electronic scrap, mining precious and base metals as well as steel and plastics from old, damaged or unwanted electronics that enter its facilities in Roseville, California; Nashville, Tennessee; and Brampton, Ontario.

From his office in San Jose, California, Skurnac said up to one-fifth of the Noranda group's total output of refined metals is mined from so-called e-waste rather than from ore in the ground. And he sees that ratio increasing.

People and businesses are under increasing political, social and environmental pressure to recycle, particularly in Western Europe. As a result, Skurnac says recycling will become a bigger substitute for mined metals.

"Especially in North America and Western Europe, it is tougher and tougher to find good ore bodies," Skurnac said. "... In these areas, it is becoming much more a recycle focus."

Although recycling is a low-margin business, Skurnac said high volumes of material available make it worthwhile. This is one of the reasons the firm recently opened its third plant, in Brampton - its first operation in Canada. A ton of PC circuit boards contains just 5 to 10 ounces of gold. But the tiny smidgens become rich streams as the company processes the gargantuan volumes of discarded electronics.

Rapid technological advancement and the ever-shorter life spans of electronics add up to mountains of scrap. According to the EPA, 250 million personal computers alone will become obsolete over the next five years.

A sign that recycling might be good business is evident in the Noranda group's announcement last week that it will cut back the mined copper feed its Horne, Quebec, smelter will receive due to low treatment charges industrywide. But at the same time it will step up its recycling of scrap material.

The process

Most of the material Noranda Recycling processes comes from original equipment manufacturers, such as U.S. giant Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's biggest printer maker.

HP and others have programs to encourage customers to return junked equipment. They then pay the likes of Noranda Recycling to deal with the end-of-life products.

At Noranda Recycling's plant, the reclamation process starts as employees comb through truckloads of equipment for any that might still work and can be resold. Usable parts may also be resold. Hazardous parts, such as batteries, and liquids like ink from printers are removed.

Mechanical processes then take over as workers feed the stripped equipment into shredding and separation machines that break the material down into tiny pieces.

The company sells steel, the metal recovered in the largest quantities, to local mills and recycles plastic, which makes up about one-third of material weight.

What is left are potentially lucrative bits of copper and precious metals. These go to parent Noranda's smelting and refining operations in Canada and are thrown into huge furnaces along with the concentrates from mined ore.

For now, Noranda Recycling is firmly rooted in North America, where it has hardly scratched the surface of the huge piles of electronics that become obsolete each year and end up in attics, garages or landfills.

Skurnac said the market is a long way from Europe, which has extended producer responsibility initiatives and is home to Noranda's Recycling's biggest competitors - Belgium-based Umicore SA. , Sweden's Boliden and Germany's Norddeutsche Affinerie AG .

By contrast, the United States has no planned federal legislation mandating the recycling of spent electronics.

California recently became the first U.S. state to pass a bill that will from mid-2004 attach a recycling fee onto the price of retailed electronics. Companies that transport and process the end-of-life devices will be able to apply to the state for a monetary credit based on the amounts they recycle.

"It's a first step and the first state in the United States to start really dealing with electronic scrap recycling," Skurnac said.

And it promises more business, and possibly wider margins, for companies like Noranda Recycling.