Shae Russell, Group Communications Manager – Palloys
The precious metals sector is still trying to find the most articulate way to explain their environmental and ethical practices. How can jewellers and refiners alike convey to you and the consumer that they actively embracing responsible environmental protocols? There is no doubt the jewellery sector is working towards delivering better sustainable outcomes for consumers. The difficulty for the consumer is to understand who are the leaders in this space?
Transparency is crucial
There is no doubt it will takeyears for the industry to adopt consistency in the way they describe the best, most sustainable practices. Currently ‘ESG’ (environment, sustainability and governance) has become the catch all slogan for any business promoting their ecofriendly credentials. We’ve called our commitment to ESG, Considerate® Precious Metals and we will explain why.
Consumers are more educated and engaged than ever before. They want to ensure that their gold or silver is sourced from conflict free areas and that the people involved in the process are paid an acceptable, living wage. They expect the manufacturers of their jewellery are going above and beyond the current regulatory standards. The question is, how can you as a jeweller tell your metals supplier is using the best practices? Transparency is crucial. Ask are their commitments to environmental practices freely available on their website? Do they show — not just tell — how their precious metals are sourced? Has the company you’re working with have all the internationally recognised accreditations to prove their claims?
Provenance matters
Total transparency over the entire supply chain is a very, rare commodity in this market. Palloys’ parent company, Pallion, has achieved this and continues to do so.
Pallion Provenance™begins with the responsible sourcing of primary refining inputs from conflict free areas, right through to the processing of them into jewellery components.
Our sister company, ABC Refinery, has partnerships with many well-known Australian gold and silver mines. Meaning we can assure any investor buying Palloys products, this gold and silver has been ethically sourced, with companies that are striving to reduce their environmental impact. We want to help you to provide your customers with Australian sourced and produced gold and silver.
To prove where our gold and silver originates, we developed our Au and Ag hallmark, confirming to the customer that our ReadyMade line is comprised of ethically sourced and produced Australian precious metals.
In addition to this hallmark, our refinery boasts the world’s largest environmentally friendly Acidless Separation (ALS)TM refining capacity. ALS is the world’s most environmentally, responsible refining technology and requires no acid to refine gold and silver to an almost pure standard. This technology allows for the removal of silver and other elements from alloys using vacuum distillation technology. Palloys is proud to be the first and only Australian refinery to use ALS. Being a partner of Palloys empowers you to offer Australian sourced gold and silver to your customers, something that is so important for our future.