The embattled Perth Mint has pinned its decision to axe almost 10 per cent of its workforce on weak demand for gold, despite the precious metal’s price recently reaching record levels.
Perth Mint — one of the largest gold refineries in the world — has been embroiled in numerous scandals over the past few years, including allegations of “gold doping” and a Senate inquiry instigated by serious anti-money laundering breaches.
But a spokeswoman for the State Government-run operation told The West Australian it had “opened up a process of voluntary redundancies” due to global market forces.
“For the past year, the Mint has been experiencing a drop-off in demand for its precious metals products that aligns with the global decline in the silver and gold metals bullion market.,” she said.
“However, the drop-off in demand for bullion products has been exacerbated by the fact mints globally are coming off record years of demand during the COVID era, which had prompted a surge in employment.
“Despite implementing measures over the past six months to adjust for the softened demand, regrettably the organisation needs to reduce its workforce to match the current and future business outlook.”
The West understands approximately 50 roles at the Mint are expected to be made redundant.
Gold Corporation — the entity that runs the Mint — had 695 full-time employees on its books by the beginning of the 2024 financial year, an uptick of 121 on the financial year prior.
It also grew its headcount by 58 across the 12 months starting 30 June 2021.
Over the past three years the price of gold has surged nearly 50 per cent and surpassed $3750 per ounce in April to eclipse an all-time record.
Meanwhile, a report tabled in Federal Parliament on Friday following a Senate probe into the Mint’s dealings took aim at former premier Mark McGowan and the organisation’s board for failing to explain a series of major governance failures.
It recommended ongoing oversight of the Mint’s compliance through the Senate’s legal affairs committee, and called for State Parliament to launch an investigation into the $23 billion government-owned enterprise.
Gold Corp in 2021 was investigated amid claims the level of gold in its bars was being adjusted through “doping”, revelations that came to light just a year after it was accused of buying conflict gold from Papua New Guinea.