Perth Mint allegedly buying conflict gold

Friday 12 June 2020

MEDIA RELEASE
Perth Mint reinforces its commitment to best practice

As a WA State-owned organisation The Perth Mint adheres to the highest ethical standards and is committed to boycotting conflict gold and other minerals. We take Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting very seriously and are vigilant in our assessments of the companies from which we source gold and other metals for processing. We remain confident that we comply fully with all regulatory requirements and the responsible gold guidelines set out by the global gold industry’s governing bodies.

Consistent with our commitment to ethical, robust and best practice processes we will initiate an independent third party review of our audit processes. The review will also assess our arrangements with licensed counterparties which may deal with Artisanal Small-scale Mining (ASM).

For many years The Perth Mint has led change to improve transparency and compliance within the gold industry. We have actively assisted regulators in their endeavours to address corrupt practices, including GST fraud in the broader gold refining sector.

We remain committed to continuous improvement.

ENDS

For further enquires, contact:

Alexandra Lucchesi, Manager Public Relations and Engagements, The Perth Mint
T: +61 (0) 8 9421 7475
M: +61 (0) 403 985 897
E: [email protected]

https://www.perthmint.com/media-tpm-reinforces-commitment.aspx

 

Having a policy is easy enough. A retailer will generally have the tightest policies and expectations. Let’s take a Coles or WW for example. They will request 3rd party audit and certification for all direct suppliers. A supplier of a microwave meal may have 20 suppliers associated with the ingredients and packaging materials of that product and it is incumbent on said supplier to manage this. The parsley might be grown in India and change hands 3 times through growing, drying/processing, blending and packaging. Suddenly the supply chain explodes out into 100’s of unique operators and most of the trust is based on paperwork and diluted resource allocation to verify every aspect of the supply chain. (bonus example Then something like covid hits and you need to meet consumer demand so you go out to market and a broker will offer you alternative suppliers for out of stock materials to fulfil production for that week or month (forgoing all audit practises in the emergency).
I’ve seen it improve vastly over time but it’s just worth noting that it’s easy for something that isn’t kosher slip through a globalised supply chain, even if there are the best and most progressive intentions and policies at the consumer-facing level.
I would say 99% of ethical sourcing non-compliance cases these days are because of upstream ignorance and not foul play.
Coles/WW will then pull out the paperwork with a lawyer and say “your document sates ...!”. And you’re toast.

Let’s face it, we rely on so much of the 3rd world for our products at the prices we need to maintain our standard of living, and the 3rd world needs dodgy labour practises to meet that demand. How it is hidden from us is pretty damned interesting.

 

You beat me to it wrcmad

 

currently my local online dealer price LBMA vs non LBMA bars prices differently, non LBMA are generally priced cheaper
it will be nice to see if, PM is under non LBMA and price cheaper too
this is price discrimination, but the market place work in a certain way
buyers of non LBMA would be shock to see PM on the list
there is price disparity going on between local (more expensive) compared to overseas (cheaper) despite our SGD is stronger than AUD

 

this bar would help