India gold jewellery adulterated with iridium: Report

January 30, 2009

Commodity Online
NEW DELHI: Did you ever thought of your gold jewellery’s quality in a serious way? If not a leading national newspaper of India has given a rude shock to gold buyers on Friday by publishing a report that most of the gold jewellery you are wearing are not gold.

The report quoted several jewelers and goldsmiths, saying that goldsmiths across India are resorting to adulteration following the huge price rise in the yellow metal.

And, the worst part is that the adulteration may go unnoticed as it is very tough to detect. The common things the goldsmiths use to adulterate gold is iridium and ruthenium.

Both iridium and ruthenium belong to the platinum family of metals, and when mixed with gold, do not form an alloy but sit tight in the yellow metal, The Times of India reported on Friday.

What makes the adulteration even more alarming is that the metals do not replace silver and copper, which are added to the gold during the jewellery-making process to harden the soft, malleable yellow metal.

There are up to 6 per cent iridium adulteration in gold you buy, says the report.

On an average, a piece of jewellery or a bar of gold contains nearly 5-6% of the adulterant, and manufacturers-wholesalers and retailers across India are aware of it.

The situation came to a head when several refineries across India noticed that the gold bought from the market, which when melted, contained at least 6% adulterants.

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