How Do You Hold Yours? Slides from the BULLIONROCK breakfast seminar held on 5 December. Steve Burling, MD of Metalor Technologie UK

1. METALOR TECHNOLOGIES
GOLD IS “HOT STUFF”

2. PRECIOUS METALS
Definition of “PRECIOUS “
Dictionary Definition … … …
OF GREAT VALUE OR WORTH

3. THE PRECIOUS METALS
Gold
Silver
Platinum
Palladium
Rhodium
Ruthenium
Iridium
Osmium
Rhenium

4. GOLD – THE ORES!
Gold Ores come from.
Panning
Dredging
Sluicing
Hard Rock Mining
By Product Mining
Time taken to obtain the
significant quantities can vary
from days to weeks to months.
Hazardous & Costly.

5. WHERE DOES THE GOLD COME FROM?
1) 75% of the gold annual output comes from the top twenty gold producing
countries.
2) South Africa, Australia, Canada, South American countries.
3) At 14% though China is now the world’s largest producer as well as the world’s
largest consumer.
4) But if China supplies 371 tonnes (14% only) of the output from mines then this
total world output is adequate for the JE market only.
5) So where does the rest come from?
6) SEE LATER … … … … … … … …

6. Dore bars are semi-finished /
semi-pure ingots of gold and
silver usually created at the
site of the mine.
These are then supplied to a
refiner such as Metalor for
purification.
The proportions of gold &
silver can vary widely.
Bars can weigh up to 25kg

7. Marin (CH)
REFINERY
Employees:
151
Products: bars, investment
bars, bullion, crystal, powders

9. PRECIOUS METALS
The semi-pure bars are
treated with Borax or Soda
ash to remove the less
precious and non-precious
metals.
They can then be cast into
the “good” delivery bars.

10. LMBA – GOOD DELIVERY BAR STATUS
1) To get LBMA status. Must be established for three years.
2) To get LBMA status. Be able to refine a minimum of 10 tonnes gold and 50
tonnes of silver per annum.
3) There are stringent criteria of assaying standards.
4) Assaying abilities and standards are checked constantly/periodically by the
LBMA.
5) A GDB (good delivery bar for gold will be a minimum 995 and weigh 11-13kg
normally.
6) Therefore a GDB is a refined dore bar that would be further refined to 999. 9999
(four nines – fine gold) will be a HIGHLY refined bar.

11. CAST SIZE OPTIONS:
1kg to 100g
Different options can be offered regarding
999.9 (“four nines”) otherwise know as fine
gold and, in jewellery terms, 24 carat gold.
Bigger is cheaper… … … … … … … scale!

12. WAFERS AND
STAMPED INGOTS
The initial stage is
rolling an ingot
into a form that
can be stamped.

13. INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GOLD
1) Chemical symbol Au from the Latin Aurum meaning “shining dawn”.
2) Density 19.3g/cc. Most malleable metal. I gram can be beaten into a
sheet 1 sq metre.
3) Gold leaf can be so thin to be transparent.
4) Dissolves into mercury at room temperature to produce amalgam.
5) Good conductor of heat and electricity. Reflects infrared radiation.
6) Unaffected by air, moisture and most corrosive reagent.
7) For these reasons above gold has many applications in such markets
as Jewellery, Industrial, Chemical & Electronics.
8) As do others Precious Metals such as Silver, Platinum & Palladium.
9) ALL can also be “Investment Materials/Products.

14. CONSUMPTION
The consumption of gold produced in the world is approximately 50% in
jewellery, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry.
India is the world's largest single consumer of gold, as Indians buy about
25% of the world's gold, purchasing approximately 800 tonnes of gold
every year, mostly for jewellery. India is also the largest importer of gold.
Jewellery
India
China
USA
Turkey
Saudi Arabia
Russia
UAE
Egypt
Indonesia
UK
Other Gulf Countries
Japan
South Korea
Vietnam
Thailand
Total
Others
World Total
2009
442.37
376.96
150.28
75.16
77.75
60.12
67.6
56.68
41
31.75
24.1
21.85
18.83
15.08
7.33
1508.7
251.6
1760.3
2010
2011
745.7
986.3
428
921.5
128.61
199.5
74.07
143
72.95
69.1
67.5
76.7
63.37
60.9
53.43
36
32.75
55
27.35
22.6
21.97
22
18.5 −30.1
15.87
15.5
14.36
100.8
6.28
107.4
1805.6
3097.1
254
390.4
2059.6
3487.5
2012
864
817.5
161
118
58.5
81.9
58.1
47.8
52.3
21.1
19.9
7.6
12.1
77
80.9
2770.1
393.5
3163.6

15. GOLD PRICING
Of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment.
Investors generally buy gold as a hedge or harbour against economic, political, or
social fiat currency crises (including investment market declines, burgeoning national
debt, currency failure, inflation, war and social unrest).
The gold market is subject to speculation as are other markets, especially through
the use of future contracts futures and derivatives. Gold price has shown a long term
correlation with the price of crude oil.
This suggests a reason why gold is sold off during economic weakness.

17. GOLD ACCOUNTS
Many types of gold "accounts" are available. Different accounts impose varying
types of intermediation between the client and their gold. One of the most
important differences between accounts is whether the gold is held on an allocated
(fully reserved) or unallocated (pooled) basis.
Unallocated gold accounts are a form of fractional reserve banking and do not
guarantee an equal exchange for metal in the event of a run on the issuer's gold on
deposit. Another major difference is the strength of the account holder's claim on
the gold, in the event that the account administrator faces gold-denominated
liabilities such as bankruptcy.

20. COMPLIANCE
RJC - Responsible Jewellery Council
WGC - World Gold Council
EICC - Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition
The Responsible Jewellery Council, the World Gold Council, and the
Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition are developing "known origin"
compliance systems which take account of the specific complexities of the
gold supply chain.
Metalor, as a leading gold refiner, is actively participating in these initiatives
and is fully commixed to support its customers, suppliers and agents in being
"Dodd-Frank DRC Count􀀀Conflict-Free" compliant by implementing
appropriate "known origin" systems.

21. CONTACT:
STEVEN BURLING, FIMF
steven.burling@metalor.com