Section 6: Country of Origin Data for 2020*

Gold Flow Transparency

Responsible sourcing audits must contain a confidential annex that details where every kilogram of gold was sourced and the type of process used to produce it.

This information has enabled LBMA to produce a matrix showing where gold is produced against where gold is refined.

The data is provided on a confidential basis and therefore a method to protect confidentiality has been developed.

In order to respect the source data, destination countries and regions are grouped according to the following:

• Countries that have four or more refiners can be listed as the individual country
• Regions with only one refiner are grouped with the nearest geographical region
• Geographical regions are simply defined to enable the data to be presented and no political agenda is implied
• Countries are excluded from the region if they fall under the first criteria, to avoid double accounting Known or expected Good Delivery List (GDL) changes are considered to enable trends to be studied (applications, new listings and removals).

Silver Flow Transparency

The same process as that used for gold is used to produce the silver matrix. In the case of silver, however, ASM sourcing is less significant.