Domov

The osmium value chain begins at the mines in the osmium mining countries. Precious metal refineries further process the ores into fine osmium with a quality between 3N and 4N, i.e. 99.9 percent to 99.99 percent. Thanks to the work of the osmium institutes and the increasing demand for osmium, it has been possible to filter and purify the resulting flue gases today in order to recover residual osmium and minimize the impact on nature, which was not the case in the past of refining precious metals.

Osmium, after refining, is exported to Switzerland and is highly purified locally by specialized companies to exceptional grades of 9N to 11N. Osmium is exclusively refined in Geneva, Switzerland, into the only form suitable for jewelry and investment in kind: plane, homogeneous crystallization. Currently, harvest rates of up to 8 percent are achieved in crystallization even with investor disks up to 9.5 cm in diameter. The remaining 92 percent are returned to the process and, at great expense, are again highly purified and recrystallized.

After crystallization, the resulting semi-finished products are exported to Germany. In the Osmium-Analysis Laboratory of the Osmium Institute in Murnau, quality assurance and inspection of the incoming goods are carried out under Keyence high-performance microscopes. Defects such as spikes, nanoholes, spherical deformation and differences in layer thickness lead to the rejection of the goods and their return to crystallization.

Perfect material is now sorted into one of the sparkle grades 1-5 in the sparkle grade system and the semi-finished products are cut into discs and bars using a laser, and into specific shapes and jewelry inlays using the wire erosion process with the highest precision.

Discs and bars enter the tangible asset market. Cut shapes are collected by tangible investors, inlays are produced for the jewelry, watch, and art markets.

All shapes are analyzed and measured after production. Once approved by the laboratory, pieces are scanned at a nanometer level. The resulting data are stored as 2D HDR images and 3D false color graphics in the Osmium World Database and each piece is assigned an Osmium Identification Code.

Purity, weight and structure are confirmed to each customer in their OIC associated online certificate.

The placing on the market of crystalline osmium concerns all processes from analysis to export via the trade network to the processor or end customer. Osmium institutes are obliged to carry out the placing on the market, but they are not allowed to participate in the trade, as they would have a trade advantage due to their involvement in the process. Exports are carried out to all countries connected to the trade network.

Crystalline osmium, in its flat form suitable for production and as an investment in kind, is marketed internationally exclusively by the Osmium Institutes. The objective is maximum safety coupled with the provision of maximum transparency for trade, industry, manufacturers and end customers.