In 1918, the company was taken over by Swiss Bank Corporation and formally established as a subsidiary under the name of Métaux Précieux SA in 1936. In 1947, the company’s headquarters were relocated from Le Locle to Neuchâtel where a new precious metals refinery had been built. In 1978, the company’s name was modified to Métaux Précieux SA Metalor. In 1986, Usine Genevoise egrossissage d’Or (UGDO) was acquired. Established in 1875 in Geneva, its 400 oz bars had held London Good Delivery status.
In 1998, when Swiss Bank Corporation merged with Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), majority ownership was taken over by a group of industrial investors. Its name was modified to Metalor Technologies SA in 2001. The Group has refined gold in the USA (North Attleboro, Massachusetts) since 1989, in Hong Kong since 1982, in China (Suzhou) since 2006, and in Singapore since 2013. In 2007, it acquired the gold and silver refinery of Johnson Matthey Hong Kong Ltd. For the acquisition of scrap, the refineries are supported by evaluation platforms in Lyon (Europe), Los Angeles and Peru (Americas) and Hong Kong (Asia). In 2012, the Metalor Group was restructured into three main business units: Refining, Advanced Coatings and Electrotechnics. The Group has subsidiaries in 17 countries: Europe Switzerland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK Americas USA, Canada, Mexico, Peru Far East China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand In addition to gold, the Group refines silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium, producing bars, grains, billets and powders for numerous industrial applications. It produces very high purity fine metals for hi-tech or medical usage. It has a department specifically dedicated to the development of precious metals nanoparticles.
Number of employees: 1,700 (Group)