Australia’s official gold bullion mint and the world’s largest processor of newly-mined gold, The Perth Mint, has reported forward orders are strong.
The Mint is a major supplier of gold globally, refining more than 250 tonnes of gold a year.
It also stores gold, silver and platinum worth $6 billion for more than 70,000 clients around the world.
Perth Mint General Manager of Commercial Development Cameron Alexander said most gold refined was exported to the major markets of India and China.
“The market is still quite bullish for the gold price; we see that through our interactions with the banking world — they are still looking to supply China over the longer term.
“Our orders over the next 12 months look very solid.”
The Perth Mint has this year come under scrutiny amid allegations that gold sold to China was substandard.
“I’d like to assure investors if they buy a Perth Mint product that’s stated as four nines gold, it will be 99.9 per cent pure at a minimum,” Mr Alexander said.
“We always adhere to this specification at a minimum, and when we’re talking about China, every delivery that’s gone to China — a very important client of ours — has been a minimum of 99.99 per cent pure for all deliveries.”
The Perth Mint supply chain
The Perth Mint reported that the gold supply chain in Australia was “healthy”.
“There are not many big projects coming online in the short term, but we’re seeing a lot of smaller operations coming back on stream — a lot of projects that perhaps weren’t financially viable five or six years ago, when the gold price was lower. Now that’s changed,” Mr Alexander said.
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