PERTH Mint’s client holdings has topped $5b amid share market volatility resulting from the coronavirus outbreak.
The amount equates to almost 50t of fine gold and 1020t of fine silver that Perth Mint is managing for its clients.
Perth Mint chief executive Richard Hayes said investors are looking to gold as a safe haven asset to protect their wealth.
“We expect fears about COVID-19 and its impact on the world economy could support the price of gold into the foreseeable future,” he said.
“We refine more than 90pc of Australian’s newly mined gold and in excess of 10pc of global production.
“The increased demand for precious metals is welcome news for a vital sector of Australia’s economy, the gold mining industry, whose output we refine into internationally south-after products.”
The price of gold tipped $2695/oz in the last week, the highest level in Australian dollars on record as investors seek to hedge against equity market declines and negligible interest rates.
Perth Mint is WA’s third largest exporter by value ($16.3b), behind Rio Tinto ($30.7b) and BHP ($29.6b), according to analysis from the WA Business News’ BNiQ unit.
