The South African Reserve Bank, the central bank, handled the marketing of South African gold from 1926 until the late 1990s. Until 1968 the Bank used the Bank of England in London, but thereafter sold to major international market-makers, usually not less than 20,000 ounces (0.6 tonnes) at a time. By 1990 the Bank was making increasing use of the forward and options markets to hedge its sales and traded bullion in the wholesale market. In the management of its own gold holdings, the Bank used to make extensive use of swap facilities with commercial banks.

In late 1997, extensive revision of South Africa's exchange control regulations gave the gold mines full autonomy in the marketing of their production. However, some mines requested more time to establish their marketing networks and thus the Reserve Bank continued to participate in the gold market on their behalf, although at a much reduced level. By 2000, all mines were marketing their output independently. Thus the bank's remaining, quite minor presence in the gold market is through lending in very limited volumes, as declared in the Bank's balance sheet.

South African Reserve Bank
PO Box 427
Pretoria 0001
South Africa
Tel. +27 12 313 3911
Fax  +27 12 313 3969

See also: South African Mining Introduction; Chamber of Mines; Rand Refinery