Taking on a state-owned monopoly is not an easy task. Ah, but in the age of disruption and advanced technology cutting into a market dominated for decades by one major player is……..well, no problem. That’s what has happened down under in Australia.
The Perth Mint in Western Australia has long dominated the mining, refining and marketing of precious metals and refined products in Aussie land and around Asia. Indeed, it even has a gold backed NYSE listed ETF here in the U.S. as well as a tokenized gold contract available outside the U.S. But like any quasi government entity, adapting quickly to change just doesn’t compute and fit an overall corporate mandate (such as creating jobs). In simple terms, why bother with ESG, tracking supply chains (because PM owns the supply chain) or investing in new refining technology? We are a monopoly.
Well here’s what going on in Australia. Private enterprise, specifically ABC Refinery, has come in and totally modernized the whole precious metals infrastructure. Rather than control the whole vertical mining to marketing process, ABC partners with the very best miners using tracking technology to make sure the metals adhere to a socially responsible supply chain.
Additionally, ABC partnered with software company Blockhead Technologies to create a platform that uses blockchain technology to not only trace precious metals BUT also to detect any tampering to the bullion. Consider it like having bullion fingerprints.
Chief Commercial Officer David Woodford of ABC Refinery’s parent company Pallion says “Not being constrained by legacy systems, we champion the Australian gold sector globally by investing in the best people and utilizing the latest environmentally sustainable technologies.” Mr. Woodford goes on, “Our various accreditations demonstrate a threshold and expectations of ABC Refinery to perform ESG at an extremely high level.”
So how do you take a significant market share away from an established government entity in a relatively short period of time? Let the private sector enlist the very latest technology to fully embrace ESG guidelines throughout the precious metals mining, refining and marketing industry and watch out world. Seems the Australians are leading the disruption globally of how gold is brought to market responsively.
