It would appear that recently a Hamilton company tested a gold bar we had sold to a customer. There is no doubt this is a genuine bar due to the multiple layers of authenticity built into the item which it continues to pass. An unbroken chain of custody was applied to this bar between manufacture and it being dispatched from us to the customer and we have no doubt the customer had not tampered with the bar.

Despite alluding to the fact this outfit has years of experience in precious metal identification,the outfit testing not determine its purity and their testing came up as 'suspected coated'. How incompetent is this!!! We were provided photos of the 'so called' test which clearly showed the item being tested outside of optimum parameters. We have been unable to verify the status of the machine, competence of the operator nor has any information been provided relating to the configuration of the machine to offset the poor manner in which the item was tested outside of the machines manufacturers recommendations. This is beyond incompetent it is downright dangerous.

This poor standard of testing should set alarm bells off for all bullion owners. If a so called precious metal buyer cannot ascertain the purity of metal how can you put trust in their abilities to accurately determine metal content and pay you accordingly. Under carat (karat) reading of metal only goes in the favour of the tester/buyer; think about it!!

In additon, XRF machine settings can be manipulated to alter scanning parameters and how it displays the existence of trace elements.  

We do not recommend or use XRF scanning as it is a fad and does not prove with absolute certainty the make up of metal bars.......this is clear evidence. Maybe the Commerce Commission needs to take a look at the standards being applied in this area so consumers can have confidence in these outfits.......