LBMA Good Delivery

What the LBMA does

The London Bullion Market Association sets the rules for the world's largest over-the-counter gold and silver market. Its Good Delivery List names the refiners whose bars are accepted in London without further testing. To stay listed, refiners must pass regular checks on assaying, bar quality, financial strength and responsible sourcing.

A Good Delivery gold bar weighs about 400 troy ounces (roughly 12.4 kg) with a minimum fineness of 995. A silver bar is about 1,000 troy ounces. These are the bars behind the global spot price, not the ones you will buy at a dealer.

Canadian refiners on the list

Three Canadian refiners appear on the LBMA's current gold Good Delivery List:

• Royal Canadian Mint, Ottawa, Ontario, with a first listing around 1919. The Mint describes itself as both a London and a COMEX Good Delivery refiner.
• Asahi Refining Canada, Brampton, Ontario, first listed in 1961.
• CCR Refinery (Glencore Canada), Montreal East, Quebec, with a first listing around 1956.

Listing applies to the refinery's large bars. It tells you the refiner meets a world standard, which is a good sign for its smaller retail bars too, but those small bars are not themselves Good Delivery bars. When buying a 10 g or 1 kg bar, a brand from a listed refiner makes resale easier and usually narrows the bid-ask spread. See the Royal Canadian Mint page or browse all mints and refiners.

The LBMA Gold Price

The LBMA Gold Price is a benchmark set twice each London business day, at 10:30 and 15:00 London time, through an auction run by ICE Benchmark Administration. The LBMA Silver Price is set once a day at noon. They are published in US dollars, pounds and euros, not in CAD. For buyers in Eastern Canada the afternoon London price usually lands around 10:00 in the morning, but most people simply follow the live gold price in CAD.

What it means for you

For a private buyer in Canada, Good Delivery is a quality filter, not a product. Practical steps:

1. Prefer bars stamped by a refiner on the current LBMA list; the list changes, so check it when buying from a less familiar brand.
2. Compare small gold bars such as the 10 g PAMP Fortuna and silver in the 1 kg silver bar comparison.
3. Judge the deal on the delivered price per fine ounce and the premium over spot.