Valcambi is a

precious metals Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. ...

refining {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Refining (also perhaps called by the mathematical term affining) is the process of purification of a (1) substance or a (2) form. The term is usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, b ...

company located in

Balerna Balerna is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Balerna is first mentioned in 1115 as ''Barerna''. In 844 and 865, the monastery of S. Ambrogio in Milan purchased land in the ''concilium'' o ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and a company of Rajesh Exports Limited. Valcambi is owned by European Gold Refineries, which is owned by Global Gold Refineries AG, which in turn is 95% owned by REL Singapore PTE Ltd. and 5% by Rajesh Exports Limited India. Valcambi is thus 100% controlled by Rajesh Exports, the parent company of REL Singapore. They refine

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

and

palladium Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...

into various forms including cast and minted bars, rounds,

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

, and other

semi-finished casting products Semi-finished casting products are intermediate castings produced in a steel mill that need further processing before being finished goods. There are four types: ''ingots'', ''blooms'', ''billets'', and ''slabs''. Ingot Ingots are large rough ...

. It is among the world's largest precious metals refiners, and refines more gold than any other. Additionally, the company provides precious metals

assay An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity of a ...

, transportation, and storage services.

History

The company was formed on May 15, 1961 as Valori & Cambi by a group of 5 Swiss businessmen/entrepreneurs from

Mendrisio Mendrisio (; lmo, label= Ticinese, Mendris ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Mendrisio is the seat of the Accademia di Architettura of the university of Italian-speaking Switzerland (U ...

. The name was changed to Valcambi on June 30, 1967. In 1967,

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...

bought 50% of the Valcambi refinery, followed by the purchase of another 30% stake in 1968. The remaining 20% was purchased in 1980, giving Credit Suisse 100% control of the firm. In 2003, European Gold Refineries SA purchased 100% of Valcambi from Credit Suisse for approximately $400 Million.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Valcambi company website

Rajesh Exports Limited company website
Manufacturing companies of Switzerland Precious metals Precious metal alloys Manufacturing companies established in 1961 Bullion dealers Swiss companies established in 1961 2015 mergers and acquisitions