The World Gold Council has joined hands with MMTC-PAMP India, the country’s largest gold refiner, to set up the Precious Metals Assay and Training Institute in Mumbai.

The institute will teach the nitty-gritty of verifying the purity of gold in ornaments, coins and bars with high standards of professional conduct.

The first batch of the one-month course will begin from next month and the institute has enrolled 20 people. The institute will charge a fee of ₹15,000.

The course will cover introduction to basic chemistry of metal and alloys with special reference to precious metals and safety, detailed operations of XRF (X-ray fluorescence is a non-destructive analytical technique used to determine composition of materials), precious metal sampling, gold analysis by fire assay and hallmark regulations and assessment.

At present, the industry norm is to learn assaying on the job with most assayers trained in a non-standardised manner, which is a matter of great concern for the industry.

The institute is supported by leading industry associations, including the India Bullion Jewellers Association, Gem and Jewellery Promotion Export Council, Bullion Federation of India, All India Gem and Jewellery Council, Indian Association of Hallmarking Centres and Association of Gold Refineries and Mints.

Somasundaram PR, Managing Director, World Gold Council, said the training will open up job opportunities as assaying the quality of gold is becoming more important in the scheme of things.

Arjun Raychaudhuri, Managing Director & CEO, MMTC-PAMP, said the country is witnessing a significant innovation on how consumers buy gold and it is important for them to get the highest purity and complete traceability of the metal.

The first set of 20 people trained from the institute will become the brand ambassadors to inculcate best practices and inspire others to take formal training in assaying even as the institute plans to launch new courses of longer duration in the future, he added.

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