LBMA Good Delivery is the global standard that determines which refiners' bars trade freely on wholesale markets. Here's what the accreditation actually requires and why it matters to you.
Short answer: LBMA Good Delivery is an accreditation standard maintained by the London Bullion Market Association that determines which refiners' gold and silver bars are accepted without further assay on international wholesale markets — a bar from an accredited refiner trades more easily, resells more easily, and carries a built-in trust signal that an unaccredited refiner's bar doesn't have.
To earn Good Delivery status, a refiner must meet strict requirements on production capacity, financial standing, and — most importantly for buyers — a proven track record of producing bars at the exact purity and specification they claim. The LBMA maintains the official Good Delivery List, and refiners on it are subject to ongoing monitoring, including periodic re-assay of their bars by a small panel of "Referee" refiners.
A handful of refiners — among them Argor-Heraeus, Metalor, and a few others — hold the additional distinction of being LBMA Good Delivery Referees: the refiners responsible for independently verifying the quality of every other accredited refiner's output. This is a meaningfully higher bar than ordinary accreditation, and it's worth knowing when comparing refiner reputations.
You're very unlikely to personally trade on the wholesale market the LBMA governs. But Good Delivery status still matters to you indirectly: it's the reason a PAMP Suisse or Valcambi bar resells easily anywhere in the world without a buyer needing to independently verify its purity, while a bar from an obscure, unaccredited source might require assay before a dealer will touch it. Good Delivery status is effectively a pre-paid trust signal that smooths your eventual resale.
Ohio Precious Metals lost its status after parent company Elemetal's 2018 money-laundering conviction, and its gold refining operation shut down as a direct result. This is a useful reminder that accreditation reflects an ongoing standard, not a one-time achievement — and that a refiner's current status is worth checking rather than assumed.
The LBMA publishes its current Good Delivery List publicly, and it's the authoritative source if you want to confirm a specific refiner's accreditation before a significant purchase. For bars from refiners no longer on the current list — discontinued brands like Johnson Matthey or Engelhard — the bars themselves remain genuine, but buying from an established dealer matters more since the refiner itself can no longer stand behind new verification requests.
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