BULLIONS:
Gold is the oldest precious metal known to man and for thousands of years it has been valued as a global currency, a commodity, an investment and simply an object of beauty.Gold (Chemical Symbol-Au) is primarily a monetary asset and partly a commodity.Gold is the world's oldest international currency.Gold is an important element of global monetary reserves.With regard to the investment value, more than two-thirds of gold total accumulated holdings is with central banks' reserves, private players, and held in the form of jewellery. Less than one-third of gold's total accumulated holdings are used as “commodity” for jewellery in the western markets and industry.
Silver is a brilliant grey-white metal that is soft and malleable. Silver’s unique properties include its strength, malleability, ductility, electrical and thermal conductivity, sensitivity, high reflectance of light, and reactivity. The main source of silver is lead ore, although it can also be found associated with copper, zinc and gold and produced as a by-product of base metal mining activities. Secondary silver sources include coin melt, scrap recovery, and dis-hoarding from countries where export is restricted. Secondary sources are price sensitive.
ENERGY:
Natural gas is a vital component of the world's supply of energy. It is one of the cleanest, safest, and most useful of all energy sources. Natural gas is likely to play a greater role in the world energy mix given its growing resource base and its relatively low carbon emissions compared to other fossil fuels.
BASE METALS:
Copper is a malleable and ductile metallic element that is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. It is also corrosion resistant and antimicrobial.It stands at the third place after steel and aluminium, in the context of consumption.Copper is an important contributor to the national economies of mature, newly developed and developing countries.Copper is one of the most recycled of all metals. It is our ability to recycle metals over and over again that makes them a material of choice.
Lead is very corrosion-resistant, ductile, and malleable blue-grey metal that has been in use for at least 5,000 years.It is usually found in association with zinc, silver, as well as copper ores.It is one of the most sustainable and recyclable commodities. It can be recycled indefinitely, without loss of its physical or chemical properties. Recycled lead accounts for more than 60% of the total lead production.The lead production process consumes less energy as compared to the production of any other metal.
Zinc is a bluish white lustrous metal. It is normally covered with a white coating on exposure to the atmosphere. Zinc is the fourth most common metal in use, after iron, aluminium and copper in terms of the metal’s annual production. Zinc can be recycled indefinitely, without loss of its physical or chemical properties. It is present in a wide variety of foods, and found particularly in association with protein foods.
Nickel is a metal with a bright future as it is the main alloying metal needed in the production of certain types of stainless steel. The strength and life span of products manufactured using stainless steel are superior to the one’s produced using non-stainless steels.
Aluminium is the third most abundant element present in the earth's crust. It exists in a very stable combination with other materials particularly silicates and oxides. Aluminium is a unique metal; which is light weight, strong, durable, flexible, and impermeable. It is rust resistant and is 100% recyclable. |
