Knowledge Centre
Gold market insights and how the trade actually works
Detailed, sourced explanations of market structure, purity and assay, responsible sourcing, refining, cross-border logistics and compliance. Every article carries an author, publication and update date, its sources and a disclaimer.
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11 articles
Understanding Gold Purity: Karat, Fineness and What an Assay Actually Proves
Karat, fineness and assay results explained, and why a purity figure only means something when it is attached to a documented test of identified material.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →Responsible Sourcing in Practice: Due Diligence as a Continuing Process
Supplier identification, origin information, supply-chain visibility, risk review and the monitoring that has to continue after onboarding is complete.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →From Doré to Finished Bar: What Each Stage of Refining Establishes
Receiving, identification, assessment, sampling, assay, refining, verification and documentation — what each stage determines and why the record matters as much as the metal.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →How Professional Counterparties Structure Physical Gold Transactions
Documentation before discussion, verification rights, settlement structure and the signals that separate a professional counterparty from an unworkable one.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →Moving Physical Precious Metals Across Borders
Why international movement of gold is a planning exercise in documentation, security and regulatory requirements rather than ordinary freight.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →How the Gold Price Is Formed
Benchmarks, over-the-counter trading, futures and the difference between a reference price and a commercial term in a physical transaction.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →Gold Supply and Demand: How the Physical Market Balances
Mine production, recycling, jewellery, investment, industry and the official sector — the components behind published market balances.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →Central Banks and Gold Reserves
Why official institutions hold gold, how reported activity should be read, and the limits of drawing conclusions from reserve data.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →African Gold Markets: Structure, Formalisation and Documentation
How production, refining and export are structured across the continent, and why documentation quality is the defining variable for international counterparties.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →Why Gold Holds a Distinct Position Among Assets
Store of value, diversification, scarcity and the structural features that give physical gold a different profile from financial assets.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →KYC, AML and Sanctions Screening in Precious-Metals Transactions
What onboarding involves, why beneficial ownership matters, and how compliance records support a transaction rather than obstruct it.
Osford Minerals Resources editorial team · Updated 2026-09-21
Read article →Market statistics
Context for the physical market, with sources stated
Each card below carries a source, a reporting period and a last-updated field. Where a reputable published source has not yet been cited, the figure is marked as awaiting verification rather than filled in with an estimate.
Above-ground gold stock
≈ 220,000 tonnes
A widely cited approximation of all gold mined throughout history, used as context for the scale of the physical market.
- Source
- Source field to be completed with a reputable gold-market publication
- Reporting period
- Reporting period to be confirmed
- Last updated
- Pending
Annual mine production
Awaiting verified source
Newly mined gold supplied to the market in a reporting year, published annually by recognised market bodies.
- Source
- To be completed
- Reporting period
- To be completed
- Last updated
- Pending
Annual recycled supply
Awaiting verified source
Gold returning to the market from jewellery and industrial recovery, which responds strongly to price and economic conditions.
- Source
- To be completed
- Reporting period
- To be completed
- Last updated
- Pending
Jewellery demand
Awaiting verified source
Historically the largest single demand category, concentrated in a small number of national markets.
- Source
- To be completed
- Reporting period
- To be completed
- Last updated
- Pending
Investment demand
Awaiting verified source
Bar, coin and exchange-traded product demand, which is generally the most volatile component of the demand picture.
- Source
- To be completed
- Reporting period
- To be completed
- Last updated
- Pending
Central-bank activity
Awaiting verified source
Net official-sector purchases or sales, reported with a lag and subject to revision.
- Source
- To be completed
- Reporting period
- To be completed
- Last updated
- Pending
Figures on this page are contextual market information, not commercial terms. Entries are published only once a reputable source and reporting period can be cited; unsourced figures are marked as awaiting verification rather than estimated.