❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister for Mines and Petroleum about the delay in notifying the Premier regarding allegations of gold doping at the Perth Mint. The Minister clarifies the gold refining process and assures that Perth Mint gold bars have consistently met the 99.99% purity standard.
AnsweredQoN 151Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GOLD CORPORATION — GOLD BAR CONTENT
151. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I
refer to damaging revelations exposed by Four Corners on Monday, 6 March,
regarding allegations of gold doping . How is it believable that, once informed
14 months ago, the minister failed to notify the Premier or his office about
these allegations?
151. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I
refer to damaging revelations exposed by Four Corners on Monday, 6 March,
regarding allegations of gold doping . How is it believable that, once informed
14 months ago, the minister failed to notify the Premier or his office about
these allegations?
AnswerView source ↗
I think there has been some
confusion in the community about the question of the alloying process of gold.
Gold is a naturally occurring material. I actually answered a question in the
upper house on this very issue last week, but I am happy to go over it again
for a second time. Gold is a naturally occurring material. When it is
extracted, it contains material other than gold. It is prepared at a mine site
into what is called dore, which is approximately 80 per cent gold and 20 per
cent other material. It is then sent to the Perth Mint for refining. The Mint
refines the gold to 99.99 per cent purity. That, by definition, means that
there is 0.01 per cent content that is not gold. At all times during the period
of time that the McGowan Labor government has been in office, all the gold bars
produced by the Perth Mint have met that very high standard of 99.99 per cent.
I make it clear that that is exactly what is stamped on the gold bars: ''99.99''
is stamped on the gold bars and it is all explained on the Perth Mint website,
so it is not exactly as if any of this is
hidden from the community. I emphasise that at no time did the Perth Mint
produce gold bars that were not at least 99.99 per cent. I know that
there is confusion in the community on this issue, but I want to emphasise—I
am sorry to say this again and again, but it is absolutely critical—that
Perth Mint gold has never fallen below 99.99 per cent, as is stamped on the
bars, as is provided in a guarantee to the purchasers of the gold, and as is
explained on the website of the Mint.
confusion in the community about the question of the alloying process of gold.
Gold is a naturally occurring material. I actually answered a question in the
upper house on this very issue last week, but I am happy to go over it again
for a second time. Gold is a naturally occurring material. When it is
extracted, it contains material other than gold. It is prepared at a mine site
into what is called dore, which is approximately 80 per cent gold and 20 per
cent other material. It is then sent to the Perth Mint for refining. The Mint
refines the gold to 99.99 per cent purity. That, by definition, means that
there is 0.01 per cent content that is not gold. At all times during the period
of time that the McGowan Labor government has been in office, all the gold bars
produced by the Perth Mint have met that very high standard of 99.99 per cent.
I make it clear that that is exactly what is stamped on the gold bars: ''99.99''
is stamped on the gold bars and it is all explained on the Perth Mint website,
so it is not exactly as if any of this is
hidden from the community. I emphasise that at no time did the Perth Mint
produce gold bars that were not at least 99.99 per cent. I know that
there is confusion in the community on this issue, but I want to emphasise—I
am sorry to say this again and again, but it is absolutely critical—that
Perth Mint gold has never fallen below 99.99 per cent, as is stamped on the
bars, as is provided in a guarantee to the purchasers of the gold, and as is
explained on the website of the Mint.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.