1、Country-of-Origin AnalysisPREPARED FOR LBMASEPTEMBER 2025Country-of-Origin Analysis2September 2025Contents1.Introduction 32.Gold 43.Silver 104.Appendix:GoldandSilverRecyclingDefinitions 13Country-of-Origin Analysis3September 20251.IntroductionThisisthefourthgoldandsilvercountry-of-origin(COO)reportp

2、reparedbyMetalsFocusforLBMAandhastwomainobjectives.First,tohighlightsomeofthekeypointsarisingfromLBMAs2023COOdatasets.Andsecond,tocompareandcontrasttheCOOdataonminingandrecyclingwiththatpublishedinthemostrecenteditionofourannualGoldFocus,andtheWorldSilverSurvey,fortheyearinquestion.Beforecomparingth

3、eMetalsFocusandLBMAstatisticsitisimportanttoclarifythreethings,thefirstthatdifferencesaretobeexpectedbetweenMetalsFocusandLBMAdata,withLBMAbeinglimitedtocapturingCOOdatafromGoodDeliveryLondon(GDL)refiners.Thesecondconcernseachorganisationsrecyclingdefinitionsand,finally,howtheoriginofminedconcentrat

4、esareidentified.Intermsofthelatter,quiteoftentheGDLrefinerwillidentifythecountry-of-originasbeingwheretheconcentratewasfirstrefined,ratherthanwhereitwasmined,withsomeofthismaterialthenre-classifiedasbeingrecycled.ThesecondpointmeansthatMetalsFocuslarge-scalemining(LSM)totalwillexceedtheLSMcapturedin

5、theCOOdata,forbothgoldand,toamuchgreaterextent,silver(asminedconcentratesarefarmorecommoninthesilvermarket).Intermsofrecycling,andinkeepingwithpreviousCOOreports,theAppendixbreaksdowninsomedetailtherespectivedefinitionsofrecycling.Inshort,MetalsFocusdefinitionincludesgoldrecoveredfromend-of-lifecons

6、umer/industrialproductsandunsoldfabricatedproducts,butexcludesproductionscrap,themeltingofGDLbars,andcoinsandbarssoldbackbyinvestors(whichweclassifyasdisinvestment);othernuancesarecoveredintheAppendix.Insummary,LBMAscurrentdefinitionofrecyclingbringstogetheralloftheabovesegments.Notably,sincethe2022