Media Coverage
14 February, 2011

The Kobe Shimbun (summary)

As scraps contain rare metals and precious metals are described as“urban mines,” metal recycling business is of current interest. AsahiHoldings Inc. (Chuo-ku, Kobe), a major recycler, has aggressively
developed the business and been listed on the first section of theTokyo Stock Exchange. Mr. Mitsuharu Terayama, 70 years old,
founder’s second son, has led this company and served as
Representative Director for almost 30 years. Mr. Terayama is still
very passionate about expanding the business and says vigorously,“A company is its people. I would like to pursue not only stability but
also continued growth for our employees to be able to work with asense of stability.″

3 December, 2010

Yonhap News Agency: South Korea (summary)

Major Japanese company specialized in precious metals, Asahi Pretec Korea,
launched its Chungbuk Chungju plant on December 3. Nearly 70 people got
involved and attended the Completion Ceremony held at Industrial Complex
No.1, in Yongtan-dong, Chungju city, including President of Asahi Pretec
Japan, Mr. Mitsuharu Terayama, President of Asahi Pretec Korea, Mr. Kuniaki
Gondo, Mayor of Chungju, Woo Gun-do, and President of Chungju city
assembly, Kim Hong Sik.
*This ceremony was interviewed by Korean TV stations, such as KBC, MBC,and CBS, which was aired on TV news shows. In addition, it was reported on
7 Korean newspapers.

Completion Ceremony

Korean Plant

29 October, 2010

The Kobe Shimbun

Making a Full-Scale Entry into the Urban
Mine Business・ Collecting Rare Metals from Discarded Computers, etc.
・ New Plant to Start Operations in Amagasaki from J anuary
On October 28, Asahi Holdings, Inc. (Chuo-ku, Kobe), announced its plan to make a fullscale entry into the business of collecting rare metals contained in personal computersand cell phones. It plans to establish a new factory within its business premises inAmagasaki by investing approx. 1.4 billion yen and to start operations by January 2011. It
currently recycles precious metals contained in plating solutions. Due to a decline in thecollection amount, however, it focused its attention on rare metals contained in electronicequipment discarded in urban areas. It intends to develop the new business in “urbanmines,” a pillar of the group’s business management.
In precious metal recycling, gold and silver have been mainly collected from plating
solutions used for treating the surfaces of electric parts and printed circuit boards.
However, the coating became thinner due to the advancement in plating technology,
which resulted in a decrease in the amount of contained precious metals. Consequently,
Asahi Holdings focused its attention on urban mines. It has already established recycling
technologies at its group company’s plant a few years ago.
Asahi Holdings specifically enhanced the accuracy of measuring precious metals and rare
metals contained in discarded items. Normally, based on samples of discarded items, thetotal metal amount is estimated to determine the trading price of the discarded items.
However, as metals are eccentrically located in some cases, it has been pointed out thatthe measurement accuracy and price estimation are unclear.
To improve the situation, Asahi Holdings enhanced the measurement accuracy of thecontained amount to 99% by shredding and dissolving the discarded items, and aim toenhance its credibility with regard to price estimation and securing discarded items.
It primarily processes items such as gold,silver, copper, and palladium. Althoughseveral hundred tons are processed annuallyat present, it plans to increase this to approx.
8,000 tons within a few years and to expand
the sale from the current several hundred
million yen to as much as 10 billion yen.

Amagasaki Plant“Many items were discarded as trash for
landfill in the past. Our expectation is thatpeople will use our service just for a small
number of items. In the future, we would liketo consider expanding the business overseas,”says Asahi Holdings.