To admire the treasure kept under Balerna, as in fairy tales, you have to overcome a series of obstacles. Metal detectors, searches and a metal door half a meter thick. Security follows the rare visitors into the basement, equipped with a personal badge that records their movements.
It’s an understandable caution. Taking the equivalent of a chocolate bar from the Valcambi refinery – the largest in Switzerland – would be as profitable as a bank robbery. The few who tried in the past – employees who were then fired on the spot – were easily “pinned” by the security system and reported.
«The trick to working here is not to think about the value around you» explains the warehouse worker as he moves the packages from the “forklift” to the shipping table. In his work space – about sixty square meters – there are roughly hundreds of millions of francs of pure gold, but he doesn’t count them. «If I thought about it – he confides – I would be finished».
Also because the value of gold changes continuously and in the last three months it has only increased, reaching a historic record at the end of May (71,000 francs per kg, compared to 57,000 in February). This, in addition to increasing the value of Balerna’s “treasure” by 20 percent – 1,400 tons of raw gold pass through the Valcambi deposits, of which we have seen just one example, passes through the Valcambi deposits every year – also has a significant impact on the “treasures” kept in the homes of many Ticinese. Where security measures, however, are much less efficient.
That the sector is in turmoil can be seen from the “advertisements” on the internet and in the newspapers. Added to the stable operators, registered with the Central Office for the Control of Precious Metals, are hit-and-run “gold buyers” who organize events in hotels, restaurants or warehouses. The authorization requirement, introduced on 1 January 2023, only kicks in above a certain turnover threshold (50 thousand francs a year) and controls are not easy. «We do good business, the moment is favorable and people take advantage of it» explains Lorenzo (surname unknown) who rented a room in a hotel in Gordola the first week of June. He buys gold “up to 75 francs a gram” or at least that’s what he says.
The overly shiny prices should not be misleading, however. During negotiations (strictly without scales) they can go down to a third, while to confuse those selling – often elderly people – the “sly ones” pretend to over-value old furs or trinkets of little value. «It’s an old trick that always comes back good, especially in moments of greatest demand» explains Fabio Luraschi, director of the Erwin Dietrich numismatics shop in Zurich. “It should be a wake-up call.”
The proliferation of red herrings is a sign of the ferment: fortunately not the only one. Buyers of “melting materials” authorized by Customs are also reporting an increase in demand. In a year and a half, 45 people in Ticino have registered in the specific public register (308 at Swiss level), concentrated above all in the Lugano area and in the Mendrisiotto area.
«I’ve been doing this job for twenty years and I’ve never seen anything like it» confides Chiara, who runs a second-hand shop in Muzzano: he appears on the list, but specializes in furniture and clothes. «Precious metals are not our usual business – she admits – but in moments of strong increases we promptly carry out withdrawals. In the last month several people have come to propose their golds.”
Ticino is a golden canton, after all. Three-quarters of the ingots produced in Switzerland are melted here: but the industrial refineries of Mendrisiotto, which until the 1960s had outlets open to the population, today only work with large quantities coming from abroad. Small savers must turn to small intermediaries.
«In Ticino it is difficult to live only from gold trading» admits Danilo Pedrazzetti of Nova Marketing numismatics in Chiasso. “More than anything it’s a way to make ends meet.” Petrol stations, currency exchange agencies, many cater to Italian customers who, however, “today are not particularly numerous” says Petrazzetti. “The impression is that, across the border, those who had to sell have already sold everything in the past.”
The gold rush is a constant, moreover, in historical moments of difficulty. The financial crisis of 2008, the darkest moments of the pandemic (2020 and 2021) are the precedents that come to mind for professionals in the face of today’s “fever”. «Our sector is made up of many dormant operators, who perhaps only have one sign and remain inactive for years until the right moment comes along» explains Fabio Luraschi, a Ticino native who has lived on the Limmat all his life. «Seen from afar, the impression is that Ticino is mainly made up of subjects of this type. It is normal that, given the unprecedented increases, they are awakening.”
Meanwhile, in the Balerna bunker the ingots calmly wait to be loaded onto the forklift and shipped. «This is just one stage of the journey» explains the warehouse worker. The destinations, like the causes of the record prices, are in countries far from Ticino and perhaps, like the warehouse worker, it is better not to think about them.
