Spotlight on North American Gold & Silver Refining
Chapter 1 - Introduction & Summary
Introduction
North America is home to eight GDL refiners (and one in South America) and more than 25 non-GDL companies that are involved in either refining or smelting gold or silver. With this in mind, LBMA commissioned Metals Focus to provide an overview of the industry in North America, highlighting some of the key players and the market segments that support precious metals refining and smelting across the region.
To help achieve this, Metals Focus used a combination of its own proprietary supply/demand data for gold and silver, together with LBMA’s country-of-origin (COO) statistics. As many readers
will be aware, LBMA recently published their data for 2022, and Metals Focus draws on this across much of this report. This Spotlight also includes an overview of sampling and assaying. While this is clearly part of a global industry, we have taken the opportunity of this report to highlight the role this sector plays in the refining and smelting industry.
Table 1: Americas’ Gold Mine Production
Tonnes | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | |||||
United States | 200 | 193 | 187 | 173 | 167 |
Canada | 185 | 173 | 193 | 195 | 192 |
Mexico | 109 | 110 | 125 | 124 | 127 |
Total N. America | 495 | 477 | 505 | 491 | 485 |
South America | |||||
Peru | 143 | 102 | 127 | 126 | 129 |
Brazil | 100 | 99 | 93 | 87 | 86 |
Others | 317 | 285 | 324 | 322 | 327 |
Total S. America | 560 | 486 | 544 | 535 | 542 |
Total Americas | 1,055 | 963 | 1,049 | 1,026 | 1,027 |
COO: Americas’ GDLs treatment of Americas’ gold mine output | 479 | 504 | 365 | 422 | na |
Source: Metals Focus Gold Focus 2024; LBMA Country of Origin Surveys
Summary
It is worth first highlighting some key metrics for both North and South America as some mine supply and recycling generated in the South will be processed in North America. Looking first at gold mine output, as Table 1 shows, in 2023, 485t and 542t were mined in North and South America respectively. The totals for 2022 are quite similar, generating a combined figure for that year of 1,026t. It is important to highlight 2022 as this allows for a comparison with LBMA’s COO latest data, which in turn gives a sense of how much of the Americas’ gold production is refined in the North.
For 2022, the COO data in Table 1 shows that 422t of gold mine production, of either North or South American origin, was processed by a GDL located in either region. (For confidentiality reasons, the COO data combines GDL activity in North and South America.) At first sight, the differences between the Metals Focus and COO data appear quite notable. However, one reason for this is that only 14t of artisanal and small scale mining (ASM) is processed by the Americas’ GDLs, against an estimated 190t of ASM that was produced in 2022 across the Americas (according to Metals Focus). In addition, sizeable volumes of large-scale mining (LSM) were also exported to other refining locations,
including Switzerland and Asia/Australia (a broad COO definition, to protect confidentiality). These, respectively, processed 153t and 50t of mine output from the Americas in 2022.
Table 2: Americas’ Gold Recycling
Tonnes | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | 104 | 91 | 94 | 86 | 89 |
South America | 45 | 47 | 45 | 52 | 51 |
Total Americas1 | 150 | 138 | 140 | 138 | 139 |
COO: Americas’ GDLs treatment of Americas’ recycling2 | 155 | 181 | 87 | 158 | na |
Americas’ recycling treated by other GDLs2 | 77 | 107 | 90 | 198 | na |
Source: 1 - Metals Focus Gold Focus 2024; 2 - LBMA Country of Origin Surveys
Turning to silver mine supply, as Table 3 shows, there is a massive difference between Metals Focus’ statistics and the COO volume that is processed by GDLs in the Americas. The gap also remains if we look at GDLs in other countries, and what they report as being treated from the Americas. This mostly reflects the large component of the Americas’ silver mine supply that is extracted from base metals concentrates and how this metal is classified. According to Metals Focus, in 2022 6,260t, was derived from base metals mining. This concentrate is often first processed overseas, before the doré bars that result from this stage are delivered to a final refiner. As such, the refiner may report the country-of-origin where the doré bars are sourced from, rather than where the concentrate was originally mined. Furthermore, the refiner may classify these bars as recycled, rather than mined, material. (For a more detailed exponent of this, please see LBMA’s latest COO report.)
From a refining standpoint, the above commentary on gold and silver mine supply focuses on North America’s GDL operations, as these dominate the treatment of mined doré and concentrates in the region. By contrast, the companies that process recycled material in North America are far more varied, encompassing both GDLs and a large number of non-GDLs. Chapter 3 sets out some of the main players in this field, covering refiners, smelters and industrialists.
Table 3: Americas’ Silver Mine Production
Tonnes | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | |||||
United States | 976 | 986 | 1,102 | 1,032 | 1,028 |
Canada | 419 | 293 | 284 | 269 | 221 |
Mexico | 5,840 | 5,605 | 6,097 | 6,630 | 6,172 |
Total N. America1 | 7,235 | 6,884 | 7,392 | 7,932 | 7,421 |
South America | |||||
Peru | 4,202 | 3,160 | 3,593 | 3,332 | 3,388 |
Chile | 1,189 | 1,474 | 1,281 | 1,290 | 1,616 |
Bolivia | 1,153 | 930 | 1,292 | 1,207 | 1,345 |
Others | 1,354 | 1,087 | 1,251 | 1,345 | 1,209 |
Total S. America1 | 7,898 | 6,651 | 7,417 | 7,165 | 7,558 |
Total Americas1 | 15,133 | 13,535 | 14,810 | 15,097 | 14,979 |
COO: Americas’ GDLs treatment of Americas’ silver mine output2 | 7,854 | 4,511 | 4,294 | na |
Source: 1 - Silver Institute/Metals Focus World Silver Survey 2024; 2 - LBMA Country of Origin Surveys
These companies are involved in every aspect of gold or silver waste streams, the principal areas of which are highlighted below. Before looking at these in a little more detail it is important to note that this recycling activity covers end-of-life consumer and industrial products, process scrap generated by manufacturers, through to coins sold back by investors (to then be melted). This contrasts with Metals Focus’ definition of recycling which captures the first of these three waste streams. (Coins sold back by investors are counted as disinvestment, rather than recycling.) As a result, the total volume of gold and silver recovered from recycling in North America will far
exceed the recycling totals that are estimated by Metals Focus, which in 2022 stood at 86t and 1,423t of gold and silver, respectively (see Tables 2 and 4). Taking that into account, below is a more detailed overview of the sectors that are targeted by North American refiners, smelters, and some industrial end-users:
Waste streams:
- Jewellery sold back by consumers, liquidated supply chain stocks of finished products, production (or process) scrap, such as sweeps;
- Silverware sold back by consumers, principally sterling silver, with some plated silverware, production (or process) scrap;
- Old consumer film and x-rays, spent fixer and developer solutions;
- Silver oxide bearing spent ethylene oxide catalysts;
- Coins liquidated by investors, unsold products sold back by government and private mints;
- End-of-life consumer electronics and industrial products, production scrap generated by OEMs and other industrial end-users;
- Mining filters.
Table 4: Americas’ Silver Recycling
Tonnes | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | 1,309 | 1,352 | 1,413 | 1,423 | 1,370 |
South America | 112 | 118 | 129 | 136 | 123 |
Total Americas1 | 1,421 | 1,470 | 1,542 | 1,559 | 1,493 |
COO: Americas’ GDLs treatment of Americas’ recycling2 | 872 | 925 | 1,007 | 1,361 | na |
Americas’ recycling treated by other GDLs2 | 736 | 485 | 763 | 640 | na |
Source: 1 - Silver Institute/Metals Focus World Silver Survey 2024; 2 - LBMA Country of Origin Surveys
Many of the non-GDLs, listed in the Recycling Chapter, will produce a doré bar, which in turn will be delivered to a GDL, either in North America or overseas. Some key exceptions will be those companies manufacturing jewellery, investment and industrial products, who will therefore be in a position to consume the precious metals they recover internally. Either way, what comes across from this report is the extent to which the region is served, whether that is by a GDL or non-GDL operation. That may seem appropriate in today’s market, given how high gold prices have climbed. However, it is worth remembering that many of these companies have been operating for decades and so have often had to contend with far leaner periods, which were often characterised by depressed prices. What is also quite revealing is the extent to which some of these operations have diversified, either with regards to their intake, or have become vertically integrated.