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Rand Refinery – Africa’s Gold Standard

By Praveen Baijnath, Chief Executive, Rand Refinery

Published on September 8, 2020
A refinery worker heating up the crucible before pouring granules.

Rand Refinery, a single-site precious metals refining and smelting complex is a South African heritage asset with a rich history spanning 100 years. Over this period, it has remained integral to the gold value chain in South Africa and on the continent.

A partner to some of the world’s biggest bullion banks and gold mines, Rand Refinery’s impact and influence are not limited to its wide range of products, but the role it plays in setting standards for the industry.

As an independent private refinery, Rand Refinery is held by shareholders drawn from across the South African gold mining industry, placing it in a unique forward integrated position with respect to sourcing from shareholder mines. The structure allows us to secure a majority of its dore supply from established listed mines and maintain its operational integrity. We also enjoy the full support of two of the largest gold mining houses in the world.

These integrated attributes enhance Rand Refinery’s responsible sourcing practices, well embedded into its organisational DNA over many decades.

A variety of gold granules produced by Rand Refinery.

Despite the decline in South African gold production, Rand Refinery offers one of the best opportunities for South Africa, and indeed Africa, to maximise the value return of its finite reserves. One of five global LBMA referees, the refinery’s capabilities in sampling, assaying, smelting and refining are among the best in the world. The refinery also boasts of one of the fastest out-turn times in the industry supporting shareholders and depositing mines.

As an integrated complex, Rand Refinery not only treats mine dore and calcined cathode sludge, but also various types of gold-bearing concentrate and mining by-products (e.g. carbons, flue dusts and borax slags). The refinery and smelter delivers solutions that meet the requirements of mining houses concerning high-grade dore and low-grade mine waste products that are beneficiated.

Over the past 25 years, Rand Refinery has become a major supplier of kilobars into the world markets in direct response to changing demand patterns. Rand Refinery produces, amongst others, a portfolio of well-respected products like the Kilo 9999 and Kilo 9950 bars, 1-ounce minted bars and 100g cast bars, 9999 granules (packed in 100 ounce bottles) and 22ct and 24ct coin blanks for national mints.

The automated manufacturing process of Rand Refinery’s London Good Delivery bar.

All our products are widely accepted and used across the Far and Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, China, Europe and North America.

Rand Refinery is a leading voice on transparency and responsible gold supply chains on the continent. Our sourcing procedures are independently audited, and suppliers are subject to a performance audit across multiple metrics. Furthermore, we have a detailed understanding of the mines that make up most of its supply and has a fingerprint of its deposits.

The rigour of production standards is equalled by the stringency of our sourcing protocols, which are implemented at every level of the operation. Rand Refinery is committed to internationally accepted responsible sourcing practices and as such, is in conformance with the LBMA Responsible Gold & Silver Guidance and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.

Rand Refinery’s certified gold and silver chain-of-custody are independently audited to meet the requirements set by relevant industry bodies. All companies that deal with us are subject to strict know-your-customer (KYC) and know-your-product (KYP) processes to ensure adherence to the responsible gold guidance principles that we subscribe to and maintain.

Value-added products produced by Rand Refinery are used globally in jewellery fabrication, investment products and industrial goods. The consumers of these products are guaranteed that gold in their purchases is responsibly sourced and where required, can be traced back to the mines.

Melting of anodes at Rand Refinery.

Rand Refinery also provides a secure vault for shipments, as well as security and logistics experts who help International Depositors in optimising their cargo transport spend (consolidated shipments, optimal routing, minimal storage time, etc.).

Beyond the market qualifiers of price and speed, Rand Refinery firmly believes in partnership and enduring trust. We remain passionate about our best-in-class assaying capabilities built over a century and the global reputation our refinery enjoys as a consequence.

No other refinery in Africa is registered to produce LBMA Good Delivery products. Meeting LBMA specifications in terms of purity, fabrication, and assay can be challenging and some African refineries whose sourcing practices are LBMA-compliant and meet our stringent criteria, do trade with us, ensuring maximum beneficiation of African gold in Africa.

The unfortunate spread of Covid-19 globally and in South Africa had resulted in a temporary closure of some businesses. Enabled by our robust protocols put in place to mitigate risks to business continuity and most importantly employees, Rand Refinery has been able to keep its operations going during this period. These measures have placed Rand Refinery in a good position to meet market demand and affords us the luxury of having product available at shorter lead times.

PRAVEEN BAIJNATH is a chemical engineer with 29 years’ experience in minerals beneficiation and the chemical process industry. He was appointed Chief Executive of Rand Refinery in 2015, and is an Executive Director on the Rand Refinery Board. His other board directorships include Prestige Bullion and the Ekurhuleni Jewellery Project. He was previously Group CEO of Delta EMD and remains on its board as a non-independent, non-executive director. He also served as CEO of Gold Reef Speciality Chemicals, as well as a director on the Operational Board of Frame Textile Group.

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Lee Jia Yi

OPERATIONS & ADMIN EXECUTIVE
Before joining SBMA, Jia Yi worked as an Admin & Reporting Officer in her previous role. She holds a Diploma in Business & Social Enterprise from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Jia Yi is responsible for managing and maintaining physical and digital files in SBMA, supporting invoicing processes, reconciling receivables and payables, coordinating meetings and conferences. Additionally, she will provide support to the team and assist the Business Director in managing the Association’s office operations and general administrative activities.

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Emily Oh

OPERATIONS & ADMIN EXECUTIVE
Emily Oh is the Operations & Admin Executive, a seasoned professional who values teamwork and effective communication. She is skilled at adapting to new challenges and takes a proactive and resourceful approach to every task. Before joining SBMA, Emily had experience coordinating international travel arrangements and spearheading community initiatives. Her role at SBMA will be providing operational and administrative support for projects and other matters to the team.

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Clara Chang

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE
Clara Chang joins SBMA as the Marketing & Communications Executive, enriching the team with her extensive experience in content creation, social media management, and digital marketing. Prior to joining SBMA, Clara held the position of Marketing Executive at her previous job. She holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University at Buffalo, one in International Trade and another in Geographical Information Science. Her core duties will include maintaining the SBMA website, managing the quarterly Crucible newsletter, among other responsibilities.

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Mr John Levin

Global Metals
TD Securities
John Levin is the Head of Metal Sales & Trading – APAC at the Toronto Dominion Bank’s Singapore office. Prior to this role, he devoted seven years to leading precious metal sales for the ANZ banking group in his home country, Australia. Notably, from 2009 to 2011, John played a significant role on the management committee of the London Bullion Market Association while serving as the Head of Precious Metals Sales for HSBC Global Banking and Markets in the UK.

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Fabian Lew

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Fabian was a Business Development and Marketing Associate before joining SBMA. He graduated from Singapore Management University with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.

He has joined SBMA since February, 2022.

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Margaret Wong

BUSINESS DIRECTOR

Margaret Wong, Business Director at SBMA (Singapore Bullion Market Association), brought valuable experience from her previous role at the World Gold Council (WGC). Her tenure at WGC provided her with extensive exposure to the gold community in Singapore and the broader region. This background has been instrumental in establishing strong working relationships within the industry.

Margaret’s role at SBMA encompasses a diverse range of responsibilities. She oversees office management, business support processes, finance, and administrative functions essential for the smooth operation of the team and management committee. Additionally, Margaret handles membership matters, member communications, and addresses public inquiries related to SBMA.

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Albert Cheng

Chief Executive Officer

Albert Cheng joined the World Gold Council in March 1993 as a Regional Manager, becoming Managing Director, Far East in 2003. He retired at the end of March 2015 and was subsequently named its Advisor. He has also been an International Advisor to the Shanghai Gold Exchange since 2002.

His marketing career began with Dentsu Young & Rubicam, Hong Kong in the early 80’s. He began gold marketing in July 1985 when he joined the Royal Canadian Mint as a Regional Manager for Southeast Asia.

He was appointed honorary CEO of SBMA in November 2015. He is responsible for the success and strategic development of SBMA, represents the interests of the Association, and is responsible for all the legal and regulatory aspects of the work of the Association. He is the primary contact for regulators and government bodies on bullion market development.

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Ms Pawan Nawawattanasub

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Pawan is the CEO of YLG Bullion Singapore and founder of YLG Bullion International. She has almost 40 years of experience in the jewellery industry and established YLG in Thailand in 2003. In 2012, she brought YLG to Singapore. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Thailand Gold Traders Association, the Thailand Futures Exchange’s Arbitration Committee, and the Rotary Bangkok committee. She holds a master’s degree in Political Science.

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Mr Shaokai Fan

Head of Asia-Pacific (ex China) and Global Head of Central Banks
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Mr Alan Liew

Head of Bullion & Commodities Trading
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Mr Nikos Kavalis

Managing Director
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Mr Nuttapong Hirunyasiri

CEO
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Mr Raman Walia

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Mr Andrew Clarke

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Mr Kazuya Naoki

Head of Metals, Asia
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Kazuya (Kaz) Naoki is the Head of Metals, Asia of ICBC Standard Bank in Singapore and is responsible for the precious & base metals sales and trading in the region. He joined Standard Bank Plc Tokyo Branch in 2008 and was relocated to its Singapore Branch in 2013 whose controlling stake was acquired by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in 2015. Prior to joining Standard Bank, Kaz spent 11 years focusing on commodity trading and risk management with Mitsui & Co in Tokyo, Sydney and London. Kaz has been serving on the SBMA Management Committee since 2016.

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Mr Vinh Nguyen

Head of Precious Metals, Asia
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Vinh Nguyen joined StoneX Group in Singapore at the beginning of 2008 and responsible for its APAC precious metals activities since 2019 until now.

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Mr KL Yap

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