Developing a Gold Refinery

[myhome176]

Does the world now need a new Gold refineries? What is the minimum capacity if a company want to build a new one in Middle East? Is it worth? Saudi Arabia has 140 K Oz annual production from their mines.
Appreciate your supports to all.

 

[nickvc]

The world has plenty of refineries but with a growing supply of material from mines and scrap materials I'm sure there's room for more.
The minimum size is determined by the money you have to invest and the volume of material you will have to refine and how quickly you need the material processed.
The biggest problem for any new refinery is to get accredited to the gold market, having bars acceptable worldwide as been exactly what the stamp says, this might be different if the output is destined for production, jewellery or alloyed products, but the fineness of the material needs to be guaranteed to the purchasers.
There have been some dramatic new ideas for refining coming out over the last decade and many of the old trusted methods have given way to these processes which speed up production and hence the amount of money tied up in stock in process but the reality for any large refiner is that it needs huge amounts of finance due to the values been processed.
The real questions are does the area need a new refinery and will it be worth the investment?
No one can answer those questions for you, you are going to have to do some in depth research and do the sums to find these answers.
I wish you luck and will look forward to your future plans.

 

[myhome176]

Thank you very much nickvc for your reply and your quick answer. The problem is that quantities produced from Saudi Arabia Mines is very small compared to others ( South Africa). So, how can we finds other data to buy dore bars from the world? What is supply and demand in the world?

 

[nickvc]

This as I pointed out is where the research comes in. Gold is mined as gold, is found as a by product of copper refining, scrap karat jewellery, e scrap and industrial products are but some sources I can't tell you where to start but having a potential source at home is a decent start if you can match the terms they already get or improve them. If your new to this I feel you may well struggle unless you have some serious influence or very wealthy potential partner/ backer. Big refineries have been trading for many years and the new kid on the block is going to find it very hard if not impossible to break trading relationships built on years of trading and trust.

 

[freechemist]

Hi myhome176,

Practically all, what is important, has been said in nickvc's answers. So, just let me add some thoughts to what is already here. To me a prominent statement in his answer is the following:

"There have been some dramatic new ideas for refining coming out over the last decade and many of the old trusted methods have given way to these processes which speed up production and hence the amount of money tied up in stock in process but the reality for any large refiner is that it needs huge amounts of finance due to the values been processed."

It's not only the processes, which have been changed, but also the companies performing them. For example: Degussa as such does no more exist and is firming today as "Evonik Degussa GmbH". It's original precious-metal activities are now with "Umicore S.A." in Hoboken, Belgium. A part of more sophisticated catalyst manufacturing, especially with PGMs, has been taken over by BASF, which also offers refining, together with catalyst development and manufacturing as a closed loop for the customer.

A possibility, to overcome some difficulties involved with tied up finances in stock in process could be in offering future customers a contracting, based on an individual, physical, weight based, non speculative precious metal account, where he can deposit and later take back refined precious metals independent from daily courses, paying solely assaying and refining fees.

A different aspect is the profitability of your future planned activities. The more you recover and refine yourself in your own facilities, the more profit you can gain. As an example, it is worthwhile to work up slags, old and broken crucibles, sweeps and the like, stemming from your procedures, collecting and homogenizing them to bigger lots, which can be assayed precisely and only then be sent elsewhere, to recover whatever precious metals may still be contained in them. In my practice, this procedure brought every years end an appreciable sum of money in addition to what we gained through charging recovery/refining fees.

Regards, freechemist

 

[Harold_V]

As an example, it is worthwhile to work up slags, old and broken crucibles, sweeps and the like, stemming from your procedures, collecting and homogenizing them to bigger lots, which can be assayed precisely and only then be sent elsewhere, to recover whatever precious metals may still be contained in them. In my practice, this procedure brought every years end an appreciable sum of money

I applied that principal to my retirement plan, holding in reserve all of the value bearing wastes that I accumulated through the years. Old gloves, filters, debris from cleaning the hood, residues from the stock pot, and other waste types were incinerated, then the ashes stored. Towards the very end of my career, I processed all of the ash by furnace, and recovered a huge amount of value, silver, gold, platinum and palladium, guaranteeing my retirement security. I highly endorse the idea, but it takes commitment. All too many will allow the savings to burn a hole in their pocket.

Harold