The Gold Marketing Chain in Suriname - WWF, Abu Dhabi unveil ...

Glossary of terms and abbreviations 1
ADEK
Anton de Kon university of Suriname
Alloy A solid mixture of two or more chemical elements, including at least one
metal. In the case of gold, it is mixed with a baser metal or metals to
lower the purity, influence the color or add durability.
Aqua Regia a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid. It can dissolve gold, which
single acids alone cannot do
ARM Alliance for Responsible Mining
Assay The testing of gold or silver to determine its fineness or purity.
Assay mark The stamp by an assayer on a bar or piece of precious metal to
guarantee its fineness.
ATM Labor, Technology, and Environment, Ministry of
Bullion The generic word for gold and silver in bar or ingot form
Bullion assay Analysis of Gold and Silver in bullion using Proof‐Corrected Fire Assay.
Sample types include mine bullion, fine gold and jewelry as well as
dental alloys.
Carat/Karat A measure of the proportion of gold in a gold alloy, on the basis that 24
carat is pure gold, often expressed as K or k, e.g. 18k is 75% gold.
Consignment stocks A bullion dealer may hold gold on consignment at a client's premises. It
is the dealer's property until the client withdraws it and pays the
prevailing price. Alternatively, it may be held by the dealer at local banks
until the clients come forward to purchase and take delivery.
Convertible Currencies that have immediate value on the foreign exchange market,
currency
and can be readily exchanged for other currencies.
Cupellation A refining process for nonoxidizing metals, such as silver and gold, in
which a metallic mixture is oxidized at high temperatures and base
metals are separated by absorption into the walls of a cupel; a
refractory pot or a small porous bowl made of bone ash.
Fineness Gold purity, usually expressed in parts per thousand; thus 995 or two
nines five is 995/1000 or 99.5% pure. 995 was for long the highest purity
to which gold could be manufactured, but for very high technology
applications now it is possible to produce metal of up to 99.9999%
purity.
GMD Geology and Mining Department (Geologisch Mijnbouwkundige Dienst)
Gold fixing The London gold fixing (see: www.goldfixing.com) takes place twice
daily ‐at 10:30 and 15:00h GMT‐ to set a price at which all known orders
to buy and sell gold at the time of the fix can be settled. The fix is widely
used as the benchmark for spot transactions throughout the market.
1 Most terms were obtained from two web sites, namely the site of the South African Rand Refinery
(http://www.randrefinery.com/default.htm), and the site of the World Gold Council
(http://www.invest.gold.org/sites/en/glossary/)
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