The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is going green.  Not only is the Olympic committee pushing / practicing the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) using the bins provided at all Games venues;   this year, when the winter Olympic champions have the gold, silver and bronze medals placed around their necks, they will be wearing old computer parts. 

In an effort to cut greenhouse emissions by 15%, Olympic organizers are using recycled materials to help reach this overall goal.  In past games, the medals have been made of freshly mined ores.  A Canadian based mining company responsible for making the medals had developed a process to recapture metals from cathode ray glass tubes, computer circuits, keyboards and other recyclable e-waste.  The process to recover precious metals is said to include shredding, separating and heating the recyclable materials.  Other signs of the sustainability of the Vancouver 2010 Games include solar panels and green roofs in the Olympic villages as well as personal reusable water bottles at Games venues for the first time.

Third place finishers will receive a bronze medal with 1.11% recycled material.  Second place finishers will receive a silver medal with 0.12% recycled material.  And the Olympic champion in the event will receive a gold medal with 1.52% recycled material.

Fire Assaying is the best way to determine what the purityof gold is.  But many do not know what itis or how it works.  Fire Assay is aqualitative determination in which gold is separated from impurities by fusionprocesses and weighed in order to determine the actual amount of gold presentin the original sample. 

The fire assay process has been practiced for centuries todetermine the weight of precious metals including gold, silver and platinum.Compared to other determining techniques like X-Ray assaying, fire assay is themost accurate because other impurities are “burned” off, leaving only thepurest of metals. 

At Manhattan Gold & Silver, we practice both X-Rayassaying and fire assaying.  Because fireassaying is a very intricate process, there is a small fee associated with it.  When you do send your gold to us for refining,we recommend the fire assay process, because it is the most accurate and is thebest way to determine the amount and purity of gold, so we can give you thebest possible price.

For more information about our Gold Refining Services,please contact Manhattan Gold & Silver today.  Call, email or feel free to visit our officein the diamond district.

Many realize that gold is a good investment these days.  While the price of other items is going down,the price of gold is rising.  Manybelieve the price is going up because gold is becoming scarcer by the day.  While it is indeed rare, this really hasnothing to do with the price.  Gold is atraded commodity, like other commodities, the price can fluctuate throughoutthe day. And to the surprise of many, there is not just one way to invest ingold.  One way is through gold ETFs, somegold ETFs buy and physically hold gold bullion (they hold large collections ofgold bars), while others invest in futures contracts.  The impact of ETFs should be interesting onthe price of metals.  These are fairlynew, allowing access to the world to buy commodities in there regular stockportfolios.

How these are traded will depend on how the price of goldgoes up and down throughout the day. Typically, the price of gold is reported in the morning and in theevening, to show the opening and closing price. Manhattan Gold and Silver displays the opening and closing price on ourhome page and it is updated daily.  Otherprecious metal prices are displayed along with gold.

For more information about gold and goldrecycling services, please contact a representative from Manhattan Gold andSilver.

Recently it was announced that the Reserve Bank of India has just bought 220 tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $6.7 billion. This may be a sign that other central banks may also move away from dollar-denominated assets like Treasury bonds in favor of the precious metal.

India’s huge purchase means that gold will now account for about 6 percent of India’s $285.5 billion of foreign exchange reserves — up from the previous level of about 4 percent.

News of the purchase of nearly half of the 403.3 metric tons of gold earmarked for sale by the IMF boosted gold prices, reminding investors that central bank reserve diversification will continue to fuel demand for the metal.

If you have any questions or are in need of gold refining services, or any other precious metals refining services, please contact Manhattan Gold & Silver today.

Record awareness and interest has propelled a first in the precious metal refining business:  In the first quarter of 2009, recycled gold equaled mined production.  

While those not connected to the industry may not see the significance, this milestone has a positive impact on everyone and it is important for several reasons:

1. Mining of any kind is, by definition, destructive. There is no easy way to extract precious resources without disturbing and negatively impacting the environment. According to the Environmental Literary Council, some mines require a ton of material for a 10 gram yield of gold.
2. In many places today, gold mining may employ controversial chemicals such as cyanide.
3. Mining is a very dangerous occupation that claims the health and lives of many people every year.
4. Gold recycling has helped keep prices in check and helped meet the demand of those moving to the market as a hedge to inflation.

While it’s yet to be seen if this trend will continue, responsible gold and precious metal recycling is an important service.  For nearly 25 years, Manhattan Gold & Silver is proud to be the trusted source of precious metal recycling services for jewelers, pawnbrokers, dentists and industrial users.