TOKYO, Aug 30, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Koichiro Tanaka), which operates the TANAKA Precious Metals manufacturing business, announced today that its subsidiary TANAKA Denshi Kogyo K.K. (Head office: Kanzaki-gun, Saga; Representative Director & President: Toshiya Yamamoto), which is engaged in the production of various types of bonding wires, will start taking orders for gold (Au) bonding wires manufactured using only "RE Series" 100% recycled precious metals.A compound for plating solutions has already been launched as the first product to use the RE Series supplied by TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo as raw materials. As a secondary use, the RE Series is being expanded*1 to gold bonding wires manufactured by TANAKA Denshi Kogyo.
Boasting the world's highest market share*2, TANAKA Denshi Kogyo's gold bonding wires support the world's semiconductor industry. A stable worldwide supply of the RE Series is possible as it is being produced at four locations - Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and China - and has obtained third-party verification.
TANAKA Precious Metals hopes to contribute toward the establishment of a sound material-cycle society and increased demand for sustainable materials and products by supplying the RE Series. In the future, TANAKA Precious Metals will further expand the business of recycling precious metals - which are natural resources with limited reserves - to the global level with the goal of achieving a stable supply.
About Gold (Au) Bonding Wires
Bonding wire is the metal wire that electrically connects semiconductor chips to external electrodes. They mainly use extremely fine wires (10+ microns thick) made from gold, silver, copper, and aluminum. In particular, bonding wires made using gold have better corrosion resistance, workability, connectivity, and chemical stability than those composed of other metals. Besides electronic products such as computers and mobile phones, semiconductors are also widely used in home appliances and vehicles. In addition, semiconductors are gaining greater attention as a critical component in electric vehicles and digital transformation, contributing to the realization of a carbon-neutral society.
About the RE Series
The RE Series is composed of materials refined only from recycled precious metals rather than from sources such as mined bullion. TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo has been operating a recycled precious metals business since it was established in 1885. By expanding its RE Series production line, it is working to supply products that use 100% recycled precious metal materials, starting in 2022.
In addition, TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo offers services using a comprehensive system of management within the Group, from product recovery to refining and remanufacturing into new products. Using advanced precious metal analysis technologies* developed through many years of research and development, it is able to accurately evaluate the rate of precious metal content in recovered materials, which is important for recycling.
Press release in PDF: https://www.acnnewswire.com/docs/files/20220830_EN.pdf