Inside the UK's only gold refinery where over 10 tons of 99.99% pure gold is refined every year

• Baird & Co. refines 99.99% pure gold.
• It goes through over 10 tons of gold a year.
• It makes cast bars, minted bars, and coins.
• The refinery also makes wedding rings and refines silver

Baird & Co. is the only gold refinery in the UK. The company goes through over 10 tons of gold a year in their East London site, where it produces 99.9% pure gold and then turns it into cast bars, minted bars, and coins.

The refinery gets its gold from two sources. Primary: gold from mines that is 90% pure. Secondary: broken jewellery from that is 37% pure.

The gold is washed in chemicals to reach a concentration of 99.99%. The lower the concentration, the more washes the metal needs.

Throughout the refining process, gold keeps changing form and turns into scrap bars, cornflakes, sand, and eventually grains, which are made of pure gold only.

Grains are then turned into cast bars, minted bars, or coins. The smallest bar that Baird & Co. makes is a 1-gram bar, which is worth £31, and the most expensive one is a 5-kilograms one worth £160,000.

The refinery also makes wedding rings, refines silver, and processes platinum, palladium, and rhodium.

Produced by Claudia Romeo. Filmed by Claudia Romeo and David Ibekwe.

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