(Kitco News) - Some of the biggest gold refiners in the world report problems with sourcing the yellow metal. There are some analysts suggesting that Russian gold is still making its way into the system via other routes. There are many trade embargos against the Russians since the nation invaded Ukraine and the impact on some refineries has been significant.
Non-governmental organization Swissaid was reported to have said a jump in Swiss gold imports from Dubai in March raised questions over whether Russian gold was finding its way via Dubai. News agency Reuters reported that it did not find evidence to back up that claim, but Robin Kolvenbach, chief executive of Swiss gold refinery Argor-Heraeus noted "One can assume that gold from Russia also ends up in Western value chains via Dubai.". Kolvenbach said Argor-Heraeus has not accepted gold from Russian beneficial owners since 24th February.
Richemont's new sustainability head, Berangere Ruchat said "I've heard there are challenges in Dubai, we don't buy gold from there,". But Dubai's government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ruchat said Richemont had the tools and experience to segregate the origin of its raw materials and aimed to know by 2025 the exact origin of all its gold.
The firm sources 94% of its gold through its in-house refinery Varinor which focuses on recycled gold of industrial origin or old jewelry from North America, Western Europe, and Japan, but does not disclose its suppliers. Swatch Group said in its 2021 sustainability report that it avoided using recycled gold from external sources given the lack of traceability back to the mine.
Laurent Maeder, professor at Sustainability Management School SUMAS, said gold mining was hard, dangerous work using lots of chemicals. "You don't have clean gold or clean diamonds even if they are labeled fair,". It will always be hard to know where exactly the gold has been sourced. There are initiates from the like of the LBMA and SBMA to see if the gold is resourced responsibly but is it hard to know if it is enough.
