BEIJING, March 8 (Reuters) - The Shanghai Gold Exchange
(SGE) on Wednesday backed Perth Mint in denying that the
Australian processor had sold it "doped" gold bars and said it
could take action to protect its reputation.
"The relevant media failed to fulfill their responsibility
to review the content, resulting in dissemination of inaccurate
content on the Internet, causing serious damage to the
reputation of the Shanghai Gold Exchange," the exchange said in
a statement on its website.
SGE added that it reserved the right to take further
measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
The Australian media report said Perth Mint, the world's
largest processor of newly mined gold, may have to recall a
potential $9 billion worth of 1-kg diluted gold bars sold to
China.
Perth Mint said on Tuesday that there was no question about
the value and purity of gold bars it has sold to customers in
China, after it implemented new procedures following a review of
its refining practices 2021.
"Doping", or "alloying" is an industry wide accepted
practice to minimise the amount of pure gold above the 99.99%
purity level in each bar.
China, the world's largest gold consumer, consumed
approximately 1,002 tonnes of gold in 2022, a fall of 10.63%
over the same period over 2021, according to China Gold
Association.
Meanwhile, China produced a total of about 498 tonnes of
gold in the past year, posting a year-on-year rise of 12.24%,
China Gold Association said.
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Dominique Patton in Beijing; Editing
by Sharon Singleton)
