Metals
Four metals, in the forms the trade actually moves.
Our licence covers precious metals in non-manufactured form. In practice that means bars, doré, grain, sponge and scrap. It does not mean jewellery, coins or paper, and if you have one of those we are the wrong desk.
The book
The core of the book. Doré from producers, refined bars from accredited refiners, and industrial or jewellery scrap for return to the refinery.
- Doré
- Bullion bars
- Grain
- Scrap
- 995.0
- 999.0
- 999.9
Heavy and cheap per kilo, so the freight and the premium decide whether the trade is worth doing, more than the silver price does.
- Bullion bars
- Grain
- Scrap
- 999.0
- 999.9
A thin market. We take platinum when we already know where it is going.
- Bullion bars
- Grain
- Sponge
- 999.5
Moves fast, mostly on car-industry demand. We trade it only against a buyer already lined up, on terms that say exactly when the price is struck.
- Bullion bars
- Grain
- Sponge
- 999.5
Fineness figures above are the grades commonly traded in each metal, and say nothing about any particular parcel.
Forms we handle
What a parcel is determines how it is valued, assayed, moved and insured.
Doré
Semi-pure alloy from a mine or an artisanal producer, usually gold with silver and base metals. Priced on the assay result; how it looks is not evidence of anything. Always routed to an accredited refinery.
Refined bullion
Bars from accredited refiners, carrying a serial number, a stated fineness and a refiner's stamp. The most straightforward parcel to price, move and settle.
Grain and granules
Refined metal in cast shot, sold by weight to manufacturers and refiners. Easy to divide, which makes it useful where a parcel must be split across buyers.
Scrap and lemel
Jewellery scrap, sweeps, bench lemel and industrial returns, valued on the assay alone.
How a parcel is established
Before a price is agreed, both sides need to know what the metal is. Price and settlement are on the trading page.
- Assay
- Method, sampling protocol, and which laboratory or refinery result governs.
- Weight
- Gross, net and fine weight, with the weighing point and scale agreed in advance.
- Fineness
- Stated in parts per thousand, evidenced by assay certificate or refiner's stamp.
- Origin
- Mine, refinery or collection point, evidenced through the chain of custody.
If your parcel is not on this page, ask anyway.
The forms and finenesses above are the usual ones. If yours is an odd alloy, a mixed lot or something not listed, describe it and we will tell you whether we can place it.