Describe and analyse the supply chain for gold, this could either be Essay

Describe and analyse the supply chain for gold, this could either be in the form of a product or discussed in terms of a commodity - Essay Example (Graham, 2005) Gold as a commodity goes through different stages of transformation and as such is an important part of the luxury products being used by the consumers all over the world. The traditional suppliers of gold are scattered through different parts of the world however, it is also important to understand that gold suppliers have traditionally being located in conflict areas where significant political and ethical issues have been raised. Due to these differences in the extraction and refining of gold, the overall supply chain becomes relatively complex due to involvement of different players at different stages. Further, since gold is supplied in different forms therefore the overall supply chain of the gold is not linear in nature but is rather cyclical in nature. Further, since it can be owned and supplied by different suppliers in the market therefore its supply chain is relatively non-linear in nature thus making it more complex as a process. (Pereseina, Jensen and Hertz, 2013) Due to the very nature of the gold, it is supplied either through mining or through the scrap however; major source of supply is that of the mining. The mining supply source is major source of supply whereas scrap supply is minor supply source in the industry. The second phase in the gold mining supply chain is that of the refining as it comes after the extraction of the gold from soil. It is critical to note that refining process can also takes place at the site as well as that of the refineries. In this case, the gold in raw/extracted form in transported to the refineries for this purpose. Further process in gold comprises of further processing, refining and finally its making and development of gold product. One of the key issues in the traditional supply chain of gold is that of ascertaining the ethical origin of the gold extracted. Since gold is often extracted from