Page 25 - Bullion World Volume 03 Issue 6 June 2023

Bullion World | Volume 3 | Issue 6 | June 2023

and security and can easily be end users are entirely different from by NABL, by qualified assayers
controlled and confiscated only if the operations of organized gold of several years of experience,
imported gold bars too are brought refineries. ensuring an accuracy of +/- 000.2
under a mandatory hallmarking fineness in repeat assaying of bullion
regime, with each bar having a 1-Process, machinery, and bars. Various analytical methods like
unique traceability number, and this technology used by the artisanal spark oes, ICP oes, etc are used
traceability code shall be mentioned refiners are entirely different from to ensure that the bullion bars are
in every sales invoice for bullion. the organized BIS-licensed gold free of prohibited trace elements.
However, importing bullion bars refineries. The larger refineries adopt Whereas the artisanal refiners do not
pre-hallmarked with BIS logos from aqua regia or electrolytic method of have their own laboratories, instead
refineries abroad poses a challenge gold refining, capable of producing depend on the fire assay services of
when such bullion is imported on bullion of 999 and above fineness, nearby BIS-recognized hallmarking
a consignment basis to the vaults and the refined gold is converted centres to confirm the purity of their
in the free trade zones of India, to cast and minted bullion bars refined bullion. This is then delivered
from where the goods may get using tunnel furnaces and heavy- to parties in melted bars or cut
transshipped to other countries duty minting pieces of equipment. pieces, depending on customer
as well, depending on the market At the same time, artisanal refiners requirements.
conditions for bullion. Regulators use a nitric acid method of silver
may have to evolve a mechanism refining for their gold refining, with 4- Regulatory compliances:
for hallmarking such bullion bars its inherent limitation in purifying BIS-licensed gold refineries, by
imported on a consignment basis to gold bullion and in the removal of virtue of their operational ecosystem
the free trade zones in India. trace elements. Hence their end of importing raw material as per
product bullion may have fineness government guidelines and selling
8-India good delivery standard in the range of 990 and is often their end product bullion bars
for bullion is technically at par with delivered as a single melted bar of to organized retailers, religious
LBMA’s good delivery standards, assorted weights. This is immediately institutions, commodity exchanges,
etc. However, presently the Indian delivered for jewellery fabrication and banks, necessarily comply with
standard 17278:2019 covers only 1 without any shelf life, and hence the various operational parameters
kg bars, which may be extended to serial numbering or good delivery of environmental norms stipulated
100 gm bars also by amending the size parameters are not relevant by the pollution control board, etc.
standard to have uniform size and or required; only hallmarking of its The gold refineries using various
parameters for 100 gm bars across purity is required. acids and chemicals in their
India. Also, the Indian standard is production process are listed in the
yet to incorporate the parameters 2-Raw material for bullion red category of consent as per the
of environmental norms for gold manufacturing at organized refineries CPCB/ ministry re-categorization of
refineries and compliance with is mostly imported gold dore and 2016 and their citing criteria require
responsible sourcing guidelines so to some extent, domestic jewellery a minimum 50-meter distance away
as to give comfort to the buyers scrap received for recycling, coming from other commercial buildings
from organized retailers. Whereas for and hence are mostly located in
Challenges of hallmarking bullion artisanal refiners, their refining of old industrial areas away from the cities.
from unorganized/artisanal jewellery scrap is mostly on job work Whereas artisanal refiners, mostly
sources basis, coming from smaller jewellers, operating in commercial areas, with
In addition to the above 900 tonnes etc, and may not be maintaining an limited infrastructure, may not be
of bullion coming from official accounting trail of operations conforming to the requirements of
channels, another 300 tonnes of environmental clearances stipulated
bullion is estimated to be transacted 3-Certifying the product: BIS- by the pollution control board or
in the unorganized segment of recognized gold refineries deliver other statutory licenses.
bullion supply, and these are mostly their products in specific bar sizes of
artisanal refiners attached to melting 1 kg, 100 gms, etc confirming good 5-Responsible sourcing
shops and jewellery shops, operate delivery parameters, and the product compliances: some of the BIS-
mostly for in-house purposes and is assayed at their own fire assay licensed refineries are certified as
their process & products and its labs certified as per 17025:2017 per the OECD responsible sourcing

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