Scavenging metal resources in post-apocalypse after 100 years

This is another question for a setting I mentioned in previous questions (currency, ammo). The setting is:

It's happening in post-apocalyptic SE Europe (Balkans specifically), about 60-80 years from now. Strange genetic disease wiped out a large portion of humanity in a matter of a few years. The rest of humanity killed and pillaged each other until our numbers were indeed few. The surviving humans have a genetic disorder which makes pregnancy harder.

Nature is, for an unknown reason to people, thriving, mutating, being more hostile to people. Wild plants are growing slightly faster, predators are bigger, stronger, smarter and more dangerous. Besides that, there are the "wild ones", feral humans that live like animals. All this has made trade and traveling quite hard, but not impossible.

Cities are overgrown with plants, wildlife moved in, forests are bigger.

People are living in smaller independent settlements (100-400 people), scattered, fortified. Bandits and roamers are common. Settlements are somewhat self-sustaining, but still need to trade with each other, because resources they have access to are different. There is one specific settlement in the area, based around the old University, which harbors and preserves "old" technology and knowledge, and uses that knowledge as a commodity, fixing and making technological stuff for other settlements in exchange for food, protection, and so on.. There is no unified government or force, and all attempts to form one have failed.

Technology is somewhat preserved, but only partially. For example, people know what solar panels are, or that somehow electricity can be produced from a windmill, but only a very few people actually know how it works and the science behind it.

The area I'm looking at is around what used to be a half million city, with smaller towns around it. Now its a mix of concrete and plant jungle, lots of buildings are decayed, flora found a way in most of the places.

My QUESTIONS are these:

There are people who are looters/scavengers, they take their chances against hostile wildlife and bandits to roam the ruins of the cities and towns for the search of rare materials used by the remaining technology.

From which items would the people get next metals:

• Platinum
• Aluminium
• copper
• lead
• iron (pure)
• tungsten
• zinc
• tin
• maybe some really useful elements i am missing (feel free to add).

What household/industrial items can be salvaged to get those metals out of them in decent quantities, and please keep in mind of the decay - a hundred years have passed since the world stopped functioning.

For example, Platinum can be found in catalytic converters in cars, copper from electrical wiring etc.

Basically, I am looking for various resources needed to make things like lightbulbs, batteries (for storing electricity harvested with wind or water turbines), specialized tools, ammo, firearms.

posted about 6 years ago

Bora‭

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