Metalor is a leading global supplier of precious metals. The company supplies a range of industries including jewellers, investors, and watchmakers, and over the years Metalor has diversified into other specialist markets too.
In this article, we will take a look into Metalor’s history, operations, and precious metals.
History
Founded in Switzerland in 1852, Metalor started by smelting gold for watch cases. After being taken over by Société de banque suisse in 1918, the company started producing bullion for the banking sector.
In 1924, Metalor created Switzerland's first precious metal refinery. The purity levels achieved in their refinery, even from its launch in 1924, were .9999 gold, .999 silver, and .995 platinum.
Several years later, Metalor became the first Swiss refinery to be included on the London Good Delivery list, later managed by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). This allowed Metalor to freely trade precious metal ingots in international markets. This resulted in their headquarters in Le Locle, Switzerland, becoming the centre of the Swiss gold industry until the Second World War.
The period of 1960 to 2016 saw Metalor's international expansion, where Metalor acquired a share in CMP Paris, launched a production site in Courville, created a factory in Marin, and acquired United States refining and silver powder companies. In addition to this, Metalor continued to expand its main sites, adding a research and development centre and a metallurgical plant in Neuchatel.
Mission
Metalor's mission is to sell products that satisfy their customer-satisfying due to their quality and ethics. To meet this mission, Metalor operates a robust and traceable supply chain for their precious metals; Metalor follows due diligence processes and complies with international legal and ethical standards; and Metalor, being a founding member of the Swiss Better Gold Association, supports gold producers.
Metalor's Business Operations
Metalor is involved in several industrial operations. The first is advanced coatings, where the business produces precious metal plating, powders, flakes, compounds and equipment, serving manufacturers of biocides, photovoltaics and semiconductors.
Second is electrotechnics, where Metalor develops and sells advanced technological products. Metalor is a global leader in developing and producing silver-based electrical contacts.
Third is refining. Metalor obtains its metal from vetted sources and recycles this at one of their precious metal refineries. Metalor's refining division only works with selected businesses that meet their established quality and ethical standards.
Metalor converts some of its refined precious metals into semi-finished and finished products, such as grains, powders, and jewellery and watch parts. Metalor also converts its refined precious metals into minted and cast bars for banks and investors.
Metalor produces Good Delivery bars, which weight 400 troy ounces in gold and 1,000 troy ounces in silver. These are the typical bars used by banks and international trading markets. Metalor also delivers to several major precious metals markets, such as SGE, COMEX, SBMA, and TOCOM.
Metalor has precious metals refineries all around the world, including Switzerland, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. The organisation produces 400-ounce Gold Delivery bars at all these locations, whereas their 400-ounce platinum and palladium bars are produced in Switzerland.
Because Metalor is a referee of both the LBMA and LPPM markets and because it is a significant player in the precious metals markets, producing cast, minted, and Good Delivery bars all around the world, Metalor is regarded as one of the leading precious metals refiners worldwide. They are also one of the most reliable due to their extensive quality processes and security implementations.
Metalor produces a range of precious metal products. One of these is cast bars, which range in size from 100g to 12.5kg (gold bars), and 100g to 30kg (silver bars). The gold bars range in purity from .995 to .9999, and their silver bars from .999 to .9999.
All their cast bars are stamped with a logo and assay information, and every bar is packaged with a certificate of authenticity.
Metalor also offers minted bars. These bars, designed more elegantly than cast bars, come sealed in a blister with a certificate of authenticity. Like cast bars, they are imprinted with a logo and assay information. Minted gold bars come in sizes from 5g up to 100g.
We sell a variety of Metalor bullion, from 5g minted bars to 1kg cast bars. All our Metalor gold bars are VAT-free, saving you money, so you can pocket the difference or invest it in more gold. You can find out more here.
Bullion Protect
Bullion Protect is a newly developed security technology applied to some Metalor bars to help verify authenticity. It involves three levels of security: first is a security seal, which functions as a visual check. Second is the application of a special high-security ink, similar to the ink used in passports. Third is a unique QR code, which is embedded into the seal, allowing anyone with a smartphone to scan it and verify the bullion.
All these security measures allow anyone at any point along the supply chain to check the bullion’s legitimacy. This is a future key selling point of Metalor bullion and seems likely to be adopted by other bullion refiners too.
Invest in Metalor Bullion
We sell a range of Metalor precious metal bars, from 5g to 1kg gold bars. We also offer bulk deals, such as our 25 x 1kg silver bar bundle. Interested in buying Metalor bullion? Find out more here.
