Aurubis Initiates Audit
Aurubis, a well-known recycling firm, has launched an audit to uncover the amount for what could turn out to be hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of stolen metal from its Hamburg, Germany plant. On August 31st, it became apparent that far more precious metals had been stolen than what had been originally discovered.
During a June investigation, a theft ring guilty of stealing precious metal components from the facility was uncovered. As a result, the firm terminated several employees and prohibited certain third-party contractors from accessing the premises.
Heiko Arnold, the COO of Aurubis’ custom smelting and products division, was quoted in a press release stating that due to its involvement with precious metals, “we are fundamentally at risk of becoming the focus of criminal activity.”
“We therefore have the high prevention and security standards in place,” Arnold added. “Nevertheless, we have taken this incident as an opportunity to thoroughly analyze and revise these standards once again.”
German Firm Targeted Again
Aurubis has also recently revealed that an inspection of its metal inventory disclosed “considerable discrepancies” between the assumed stock and what was physically present. The investigation showed that several loads of received recyclable inputs were fewer than the predicted amount. “This evidence has led Aurubis to conclude that it has been the target of further criminal activity following the cases reported in June 2023,” the notice reports.
Following the disclosure of earlier cases, Aurubis took further action and again reported the matter to law enforcement. At the end of September, Aurubis will finish its audit of metal reserves. The company is estimating that the total theft may amount to a “low, three-digit-million-euro range,” which has caused Aurubis to reassess its fiscal results expectations for 2022-2023.
“In that incident, they stole high-value precious-metal bearing intermediates that are generated during the refining process, and it takes a certain knowledge and access to processing equipment to treat these materials. The people involved in that are currently in custody awaiting trial” the report explained.
Stock Values Rapidly Decline
After news of the disclosure broke, investors reacted harshly and caused a drastic drop in stock values. On August 31st, stock was valued at 76 euros per share; however, just four days later stocks had plummeted to under 69 euros each.
The Wall Street Journal was informed by an anonymous company representative that there were discrepancies between the content of its stock and payments made to suppliers. It appears that both internal and external sources may be behind the alleged fraud, likely involving copper and other valuable metals, but the exact extent of the theft remains unclear.
Theft Gains Media Attention
The uncovering of fraud at smelters has been in the media lately, and a story on the topic was additionally posted on mining.com.
In other news, Aurubis has decided to construct a recycling smelter in Georgia with an estimated cost of over $700 million. This secondary facility is predicted to have a yearly capacity of 180,000 tons and will take in e-scrap as well as other copper and precious metals scrap.
