Perth Mint Sets New Gold Bar World Record

On 9 July 2026, The Perth Mint set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the world’s largest gold bar. The bar weighs 521.2 kilograms and is refined to 99.999% purity. That beats the previous 300kg record by more than 200kg. It is one of the biggest technical achievements in the Mint’s 127-year history, and it says a great deal about the standards behind the gold moving through the market today.

The record in numbers

• GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title achieved: 9 July 2026
• Official record weight: 521.2kg
• Gold purity: 99.999%
• Finished weight after milling, engraving and polishing: 508kg
• Raw material prepared: approximately 1.5 tonnes
• Specialists involved: more than 35
• Gold heated to: 1,400°C
• Gold producers contributing to the project: 9

How do you cast half a tonne of gold

Purity was the hard part of this record. Most investment-grade gold, including the LBMA Good Delivery bars that support the global market, is refined to 99.99%, known in the trade as four nines. The Perth Mint’s record bar went one step further, to 99.999%, or five nines. Very few refineries can hold that level at any size, let alone across half a tonne of metal.

The process began with around 1.5 tonnes of raw material. That was refined into a series of large gold bars before the final cast. Six large bars and several smaller ones were loaded into a purpose-built mould and placed in the Mint’s Flameless Casting Chamber. The gold was heated to about 1,400°C and cooled over many hours. More than 35 specialists from The Perth Mint’s Refinery and Assay Laboratory worked on the project, using more than a century of combined refining skill to get it right.

A collaboration across Australia’s gold industry

The bar was made from Australian Origin Gold™, with help from nine Australian producers: AngloGold Ashanti Australia, BHP, Evolution Mining, Gold Fields, Greatland, Newmont Australia, Northern Star, Norton Gold Fields and Pantoro. That list matters. A record like this was not made by one refinery alone. It reflects a whole supply chain, from mine to refinery to finished bar, working to one shared standard.

The Perth Mint’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Graham, put it plainly: producing a gold bar this size while holding 99.999% purity took careful planning and a strong focus on quality. He said it shows the refining skill that has made The Perth Mint one of the most respected precious metals institutions in the world.

Why this matters beyond the headline

It’s easy to read a story like this as a curiosity, a very large, very shiny number.

But the purity achieved here is the more telling detail for anyone who follows the gold market closely.

The standards a refinery can hold at 521kg are the same standards, scaled down, that sit behind the kilobar, the 100g bar or the 1oz coin.

Those pieces change hands every day.

Assay certification, traceable sourcing and consistent purity are what make gold a trusted store of value in the first place, and this record is a public demonstration of that discipline at a scale nobody has managed before.

It also reinforces Western Australia’s place in the global gold industry. The state produces a large share of the world’s mined gold, and The Perth Mint has spent well over a century turning that raw material into some of the best-known bullion products in the world, including many of the coins and bars that reach investors here in the UK.

A new addition to the record books

This is not The Perth Mint’s first Guinness World Records entry. Its one-tonne gold coin, made in 2011, holds the title for the largest gold coin, awarded in 2012. The two pieces will eventually sit side by side in The Perth Mint’s exhibition. The record bar is set to go on public display from late September 2026 as part of the Perth Mint Gold Tour.

For more detail, The Perth Mint’s official announcement sets out the full story, and Government House Western Australia has more on the bar’s public unveiling.

The takeaway

It can be easy to read a story like this as a curiosity, a very large, very shiny number.

But the purity achieved here is the more telling detail for anyone who follows the gold market closely.

The same refining discipline, the same assay standards and the same tracking apply at every scale. We’re proud distributors of The Perth Mint. The same purity and assay standards behind this record breaking bar sit behind every Perth Mint coin and bar we stock. Explore our range of Perth Mint gold to see it for yourself.

Q&A

Question: What exactly was the Guinness World Records title that The Perth Mint achieved?

Short answer: On 9 July 2026, The Perth Mint set the Guinness World Records title for the world’s largest gold bar. The bar’s official record weight is 521.2 kilograms, and it is refined to 99.999% purity. That beats the previous 300kg record by more than 200kg.

Question: Why is the 99.999% purity such a big deal compared with standard investment gold?

Short answer: Most investment-grade bullion, including LBMA Good Delivery bars, is refined to 99.99%, or four nines. Reaching 99.999%, or five nines, is far harder, especially at half-tonne scale. Holding that standard across 521kg shows the refining discipline and assay control that support bullion of every size, from 1oz coins to kilobars.

Question: How was the record bar made from start to finish?

Short answer: The Mint began with about 1.5 tonnes of raw material. It was refined into several large bars, then six large bars plus smaller ones were loaded into a custom mould inside a Flameless Casting Chamber. The gold was heated to around 1,400°C and cooled over many hours. After milling, engraving and polishing, the finished bar weighed 508kg. More than 35 Refinery and Assay Laboratory specialists took part.

Question: Who supplied the gold and why does that matter?

Short answer: The bar used Australian Origin Gold from nine Australian producers: AngloGold Ashanti Australia, BHP, Evolution Mining, Gold Fields, Greatland, Newmont Australia, Northern Star, Norton Gold Fields and Pantoro. This collaboration shows that a record like this reflects an entire supply chain, from mine to refinery to finished product, working to one shared standard for quality and traceability.

Question: When and where can the public see the bar, and how does it relate to The Perth Mint’s other records?

Short answer: The record bar is set to go on public display from late September 2026 as part of the Perth Mint Gold Tour, where it will eventually be shown alongside the Mint’s one-tonne gold coin, which has held the largest gold coin title since 2012. For more detail, see The Perth Mint’s official announcement and Government House Western Australia’s coverage linked above.

The Perth Mint’s precision is something we see up close.
As an official Perth Mint distributor, we handle their gold and silver bullion every day, from the same rigorous purity and assay standards behind this record breaking bar down to the coins and bars that make up an everyday portfolio.

Explore our range of Perth Mint gold and silver