Top Industries purchasing Gold (Au)
Gold, while not classified as a ‘critical mineral”, will nonetheless be recovered in most rare earth processing due to its value as a side product.
Major Individual Company Purchasers
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.
Gold, while not classified as a ‘critical mineral”, will nonetheless be recovered in most rare earth processing due to its value as a side product.
| Rank | Industry | Volume (MT) | % Usage | Primary Applications |
| 1 | Jewelry Manufacturing | ~2,100 | 43.0% | 18k/22k/24k personal adornment and luxury goods. |
| 2 | Central Banking (Sovereign) | ~1,100 | 22.5% | National reserves and currency stabilization. |
| 3 | Private Investment (Retail) | ~980 | 20.0% | Physical bars and coins for wealth preservation. |
| 4 | Electronics & Semiconductors | ~260 | 5.3% | Bond wires, plating, and contacts for high-end chips. |
| 5 | Institutional Investment (ETFs) | ~150 | 3.1% | Backing for exchange-traded funds and gold trusts. |
| 6 | Automotive & EV | ~80 | 1.6% | ECU connectors, sensor plating, and spark plug tips. |
| 7 | Dentistry & Healthcare | ~45 | 0.9% | Crowns, bridges, and biocompatible medical implants. |
| 8 | Aerospace & Defense | ~40 | 0.8% | Infrared shielding, satellite circuitry, and cockpit glass. |
| 9 | Telecommunications | ~35 | 0.7% | 5G base station connectors and high-speed switches. |
| 10 | Chemical & Industrial | ~25 | 0.5% | Catalysts for specialty chemicals and plating salts. |
| 11 | Renewable Energy | ~20 | 0.4% | Silver-gold alloy pastes for high-efficiency solar cells. |
| 12 | Pharmaceuticals | ~15 | 0.3% | Gold-based drugs for arthritis and cancer tracers. |
| 13 | Luxury Watchmaking | ~12 | 0.2% | Cases, movements, and bracelets for high-end horology. |
| 14 | Glass & Optics | ~8 | 0.1% | Heat-reflective window coatings and laser mirrors. |
| 15 | Textiles & Embroidery | ~5 | 0.1% | Gold thread for high-fashion and ceremonial garments. |
| 16 | Food & Beverage | ~2 | Trace | Edible gold leaf (E175) for luxury confectionery. |
| 17 | Quantum Computing | ~1 | Trace | Non-magnetic cryogenic connectors and PCB plating. |
| 18 | Nuclear Energy | Trace | Trace | Shielding for specialized radiation detection equipment. |
| 19 | Artificial Intelligence | Trace | Trace | Specialized GPU-to-board high-conductivity interconnects. |
| 20 | Photography | Trace | Trace | Gold-toning for archival-grade fine art prints. |
Major Individual Company Purchasers
- People's Bank of China and the Reserve Bank of India: National reserves and currency stabilization.
- Apple Inc.: A massive purchaser for its electronics supply chain; Apple has notably committed to using 100% recycled gold in all its logic boards and camera modules.
- Samsung Electronics: Consumes significant gold for its semiconductor manufacturing and smartphone assembly lines globally.
- The Royal Mint (UK) / US Mint: Major sovereign manufacturers that purchase thousands of tons of gold annually to produce "investment grade" bullion and legal tender.
- World Gold Trust Services (SPDR Gold Shares): The entity behind GLD, the world's largest gold ETF, which must purchase physical gold to back its shares.
- Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Group: Based in Hong Kong, they are one of the world's largest purchasers of gold for the retail jewelry market.
- Tanaka Precious Metals: A Japanese leader in industrial gold applications, purchasing gold to create bonding wires and plating solutions for the semiconductor industry.
- Heraeus: A German technology group that is a major refiner and purchaser of gold for medical, electronic, and industrial sensor applications.
- Rolex SA: A significant purchaser of gold for its vertically integrated foundry, where it creates its own proprietary 18k gold alloys (e.g., Everose).
- Honeywell International: Purchases gold for specialized aerospace components, including heat-reflecting shields and high-reliability connectors.
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.