Greenland emerges as new source of Swiss gold imports
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Greenland emerges as new source of Swiss gold imports
Greenland has been in the headlines after US President Donald Trump threatened to annex the Danish-ruled territory. Less attention has been paid to its gold exports. Switzerland has been strengthening its position as the world’s leading hub for gold trading and refining by opening a new import channel from Greenland.
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According to provisional federal customs data cited by Sunday’s SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Swiss gold imports from Greenland jumped from zero to CHF18 million ($22.5 million) over the past year.
The explanation for this increase is both technical and geographical.
“Since Greenland does not have its own refinery, this gold arrives in Switzerland,” Christoph Wild, president of the Swiss Association of Precious Metal Producers and Dealers, told the paper.
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The mining company that operates the island’s only gold mine, which reopened at the end of 2024 after a pause, has confirmed this trade.
The raw metal, totalling around 200 kilogrammes in 2025, according to the Swiss paper, is sent to the Metalor refinery in canton Neuchâtel in western Switzerland, owned by the Japanese group Tanaka, for processing and transformation into ingots or other high-purity finished products.
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The figures, while significant for the new gold source, are still marginal compared to the overall volume of Swiss gold trade. Switzerland exported more than 550 tonnes of gold to the United States alone in 2025, worth more than CHF46 billion.
Translated from Italian by AI/sb
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