Editor’s Note
This partnership between South Africa’s Rand Refinery and Ghana’s Gold Coast Refinery marks a significant step in developing local gold refining capacity in West Africa. By leveraging technical expertise, it aims to enhance responsible sourcing standards for artisanal and small-scale mining—a key move for the region’s economic and ethical gold trade.
Strategic Partnership for Local Refining
JOHANNESBURG – “I hope it’s the first of many,” says London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) CEO Ruth Crowell regarding the strategic gold partnership between South Africa’s Rand Refinery and Ghana’s Gold Coast Refinery.
In a major advance that enables local refining of artisanal and small-scale (ASM) gold and elevates West Africa’s responsible sourcing standards, Rand Refinery, as Africa’s leading LBMA-accredited refiner, will provide technical, operational, and commercial supervision. Rand Refinery has also exercised major leadership in adopting the gold bar integrity database that traces every ounce of gold from rock to bar.
Interview with LBMA CEO Ruth Crowell
In an interview with Crowell during the Investing in African Mining Indaba, a series of questions were posed, and these were her replies:
Significance of African-to-African Collaboration
LBMA has 190 refining, mining, trading, vaulting, manufacturing, and transportation member companies across 27 countries. From LBMA’s perspective, what does this kind of African-to-African refining collaboration signal about the future shape of bullion markets on the continent?
“I’m delighted to see this announcement, and I hope it’s the first of many. I think it is an excellent case study to demonstrate not just to other African nations but to the wider world how you can source responsibly from one of the most challenging sectors of the gold market, in terms of artisanal, small scale gold. I think the work by the government of Ghana has been excellent, but I think it’s also Rand Refinery taking the view that we’re not going to take everything. We need some due diligence. But we’ve also worked with them, with NGOs, with other governments, on creating a framework that’s accepted to say these are the foundations you’ve got to have. It’s got to be legal, it’s got to be free of mercury. But it is about how we improve progressively and try to change the status quo, because boycotting is just a vote for the status quo. So, it’s really exciting to see Rand Refinery taking this leadership move.”
Importance of Aligning with Global Standards
As new and emerging African refineries seek deeper integration into global markets, how important is alignment with LBMA standards in ensuring that partnerships like this translate into long-term credibility and international market access?
“Well, I think it’s not just LBMA standards, it’s also global standards like the OECD. That’s something that I think any centre, any refiner, trying to be ambitious and successful should adopt. The good news is you’ve got many years of examples to look at. I would also say, what’s exciting about the Rand Refinery partnership in Ghana is also that Rand Refinery sees this as a Ghana story, and ultimately they agree with the ambition that they would like to see Ghana’s Gold Coast Refinery apply to be an LBMA good delivery refiner. Now, when we had the first good delivery refiner in India, which wasn’t that long ago, the way that was achieved was similar in terms of partnering with established players who can help you fast-track how you come up to speed, not just on the OECD guidelines on sourcing, but technical requirements, operational requirements, so being willing to learn something from people who have been doing it longer, but also being clear that they’re wanting to have ownership themselves.”
Current Trends in Precious Metals
From LBMA’s vantage point, what are the most important trends you’re currently seeing in precious metals, both on the physical side and in financial demand?
“It’s hard to choose just a few, which I think is so exciting. At $5,000/oz, gold is incredibly mainstream. Investors all over the world are re-looking at gold; in a way it was discounted as fringe. It’s incredibly mainstream, and there’s a lot of reasons for that. The geopolitical landscape, the macroeconomic landscape, but also realising when it comes to central banks and portfolios, gold is money, everything else is credit, especially in a world where you’re trying to go for more of a neutral approach, and you’re not sure about the future. There is stability and a safe haven aspect that continues to play a role but I would say the West is really just starting to wake up to gold being a valuable part of the portfolio, as a key diversifier and not just a safe haven. People are also recognising that physical is king. It’s not enough just to be electronic. You need to understand where the physical is, what the quality is, and how it’s been securely held.”
Geopolitical Impacts and LBMA’s Role
Political pressure from the White House on the independence of the US Federal Reserve has been applied and this has led to questioning of the US dollar as the reserve currency of choice. If this continues, what do you see as the longer-term repercussions for global trade, bullion flows and the role of LBMA?
“If you wanted to see how the attack on the Fed is linked to the gold price, it’s very easy to see the spike that came in the third quarter of last year, and you also saw the drop again when the announcement of the new Fed chair, which was a much safer, conservative choice than had been feared or expected. Part of that is because I don’t think anyone is more sensitive to an attack on central banks than other central banks, and they’ve been huge buyers.”
LBMA’s Engagement with African Bullion Centres
LBMA has renewed its engagement with international bullion centres. What role do African bullion centres play in this strategy?
[Note: The article concludes here; the final question was presented but a direct answer from Crowell was not provided in the given text.]
