The AARL gold fingerprinting technology

Abstract

Gold fingerprinting, as its name suggests, is a technique which provides gold profiles unique to a given source. The procedure adopts a qualitative approach based on the singular patterns produced by the minor and trace element impurities present in gold. The generation of a Gold Bullion Databank, GBD, has provided an effective means of ascertaining gold provenance in cases where the origin is unknown. The AARL fingerprinting technique is described, in particular the role of Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) in profile generation, together with the use of the AARL unique statistical model specifically designed to provide % similarity information between an unknown and members of the GBD.