What is gold doré?

Doré is the bar a gold mine pours on site. It is mostly gold and silver, with small amounts of copper and other metals. It is not yet investment-grade bullion.

Doré is sold to a refinery, which removes the impurities and produces bars of 99.5% purity or more.

Gold content varies with the ore and the process, from under 60% to over 90%. Two bars of the same weight can be worth very different amounts.

That is why doré is always sampled and assayed before it is priced.

Price = weight × gold content (from the assay) × the agreed benchmark price, less refining charges and any agreed discount. Silver content may be paid for separately.