They look like any other factory in one of suburban Toronto’s sprawling industrial parks … until you try to get past the reception desk. Without a coded card, no one can get to the back of the plant except the most senior of personnel. Security is strict. Following a visit inside, a body search by a security guard with metal detector, which includes even small checks such as the turning over of your belt buckle and removal of your shoes, is compulsory. Welcome to Canada’s private precious metals refiners — Degussa Canada in Burlington, Ont. (a subsidiary of Degussa ag of West Germany) and Johnson Matthey in Brampton, Ont. (a subsidiary of Johnson Matthey of London). The Royal Canadian Mint, in Winnipeg and Ottawa, is the biggest of them all; it refines more than 80% of all gold produced in Canada. But there’s always room for someone else, and that includes the two Toronto-area refineries.
The refiners practise a centuries- old metallurgical technique that has, in essence, changed little through the ages. Their job is that of the modern- day alchemist, turning raw gold — sometimes no more than industrial scrap — into the fine or 99.99% variety.
In fact, in order to keep their refining operations running, Degussa and Johnson Matthey call on a diverse number of sources for their raw material. These include goldsmiths’ and jewelers’ workshops; the jewelry, photographic and electronics industries; dental laboratories; and, of course, producing mines with their dore bars. In Degussa Canada’s case, Canadian and U.S. mining companies supply most of the Burlington plant’s gold whereas, at Brampton, Johnson Matthey relies more on waste and scrap (or secondary feed) material.
The newer of the two operations is Degussa Canada’s refinery. William Powell, vice-president of refining and trading, says the Burlington refinery has been in place for about one year. Part of the international, German- based company Degussa ag, which in addition to precious metals is active in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, the Degussa Canada operation was started up seven years ago. A sampling plant, following a major expansion in 1986, gave way to a precious metals refinery and an auto- exhaust plant where catalytic-converter components are manufactured using platinum group metals.
Only gold and silver are refined at the Burlington plant; any platinum recovered is shipped to Europe for refining. While the Burlington plant is Degussa’s only North American refinery handling gold, the parent company recently purchased a silver refinery in New Jersey. Operations there are aimed primarily at the industrial market.
Johnson Matthey, active in Canada since 1930, is also part of a world- wide organization, with considerable expertise in platinum as well as gold and silver. Colin Campbell, sales and marketing manager, says the Brampton plant, which opened in 1976, evolved from a smaller operation in nearby Toronto, which is now a Johnson Matthey fabrication plant. Like Degussa, its competitor, Johnson Matthey refines only gold and silver at its Brampton plant, shipping any platinum group metal residues to England for refining. There is, however, a Johnson Matthey sister plant in Salt Lake City, Utah, where gold and silver are refined, and a fairly new refinery in New Jersey which specializes in platinum group metals.
Tours of the Burlington and Brampton plants lend instant credence to the French saying, plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same). Though modern-looking on the outside, the refineries inside contain a mix of the old and new — from the crucibles used in the melting process to the computerized machinery performing a myriad of functions.
At both plants, chlorination followed by electrolysis is used for gold refining. Molten impure gold is treated with chlorine which converts the base metals present (including silver) into chlorides which can be drawn off. Electrolysis then purifies the gold further. As for silver dore bars, the white metal is melted and poured into anodes before undergoing electrolysis.
Processing a customer’s metallic scraps or sweeps is a time-consuming exercise, with 15-20 working days passing between arrival at the refinery and the finished pure product. Sampling of the input is required and the precious metal content must be determined before the recovery process begins. For the refiner, carrying costs and equipment and maintenance expenses — the “acidic environment” isn’t easy on the machinery — are constant concerns.
Marketing of recycled precious metals is not an overlooked step in the recovery process. While most people might be familiar with gold and silver bars, and perhaps even with gold and silver grain (which has been likened to popped popcorn and which is popular with the jewelry industry), precious metals can be purchased in a wide assortment of shapes and sizes. Octagonal gold wafers, for example, as small as 5 g and complete with a hole (a hanging ornament?) are available to the buying public. At its Burlington refinery Degussa Canada currently produces gold bars in three sizes: 400 troy oz, 100 oz and 1,000 g (kilo bar), as well as the 1,000-oz silver bar. Other bars and the smaller wafers, stamped overseas, are sold through the Canadian refinery. Johnson Matthey, on the other hand, pours only the 400-oz gold bar and the 1,000-oz silver bar at its Brampton plant but produces a wide variety of bars and wafers at its Toronto fabrication plant.
And, of course, there are coins. Launched by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1979, the Gold Maple Leaf, 99.99% pure, has enjoyed world-wide success. As of the end of 1986, more than 12.7 million of the bullion coins, representing about 9.5 million oz of Canadian gold, had been sold to private investors. The Mint each year strikes commemorative coins such as the silver dollar and the $100 gold piece. As well, it produces a variety of numismatic sets. And, to help celebrate the 1988 Olympic Winter Games to be held in Calgary, Alta., the Mint is issuing a series of 10 sterling silver coins and one gold coin. *
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