Real potential problems at Provident Metals

[valerb]

Provident Metals is part of the group that makes up Elemetal Metals, along with Elemental Mint, NTR and Ohio Precious Metals. Apparently there is a major problem taking place within Elemetal Metals that may very well bring down the entire group. For that reason and for the foreseeable future, I will not be listing any future sales posted by Provident Metals and would strongly advise anyone that might have decided to store their precious metals with them to withdraw any and everything you can as fast as you can before it's too late. Tens of Million have been lost in stored metal with Bullion Direct and Northwest Territorial Mint just to name a few of the largest online dealers in the past few years. You do not want to be next, better safe than sorry. This is not to say Provident Metals is going to be the next large dealer going out of business, but it doesn't look good at this point and it's better to beat the crowd to anything that can be removed while there is still metal to be removed if there is a problem. It's also far better to have someone try and take it back from you than to try and get something that turned to dust in a bankruptcy.

So far, I'm not aware of any problems at Provident Metals, however the group is very large and the problems seem to be much greater than the Provident Metals operation, so it could very well get swallowed up in a financial nightmare along with everyone's money and potential stored metal if it isn't properly segregated as was the case with Northwest Territorial Mint. A lot of the metal stored at NWTM was not specifically identified to an owner on a carton, so it became part of the company assets and not even tried to figure out who it might belong to or split it with those it should belong to. The Bankruptcy trustee just did a precious metals grab for his own purpose to keep the company in funds to do as he saw fit. If you have followed the Bullion Direct and NWTM bankruptcies you know what I mean when it comes to the stored metal. It didn't matter what the records showed, it only seemed to matter if someone's name was on a box of metal or not.

Doing business with Provident Metals at this time might very well be a gamble, you decide for yourself.

I've been a fan of Provident Metals for several years and have done a lot of business with them, more selling than buying.

That being said, the vast majority of all my Silver is in one ounce Northwest territorial Mint rounds, bought one to two decades before they went belly up.

You just never know what's going to bring down a bullion dealer as they will never tell you in advance.

NWTM was suppose to be running a Ponzi scheme back in the 1990's and if that was true they would never have lasted another 20 years.

[silverheartbone]

Provident Metals is part of the group that makes up Elemetal Metals, along with Elemental Mint, NTR and Ohio Precious Metals. Apparently there is a major problem taking place within Elemetal Metals that may very well bring down the entire group. For that reason and for the foreseeable future, I will not be listing any future sales posted by Provident Metals and would strongly advise anyone that might have decided to store their precious metals with them to withdraw any and everything you can as fast as you can before it's too late. Tens of Million have been lost in stored metal with Bullion Direct and Northwest Territorial Mint just to name a few of the largest online dealers in the past few years. You do not want to be next, better safe than sorry. This is not to say Provident Metals is going to be the next large dealer going out of business, but it doesn't look good at this point and it's better to beat the crowd to anything that can be removed while there is still metal to be removed if there is a problem. It's also far better to have someone try and take it back from you than to try and get something that turned to dust in a bankruptcy.

So far, I'm not aware of any problems at Provident Metals, however the group is very large and the problems seem to be much greater than the Provident Metals operation, so it could very well get swallowed up in a financial nightmare along with everyone's money and potential stored metal if it isn't properly segregated as was the case with Northwest Territorial Mint. A lot of the metal stored at NWTM was not specifically identified to an owner on a carton, so it became part of the company assets and not even tried to figure out who it might belong to or split it with those it should belong to. The Bankruptcy trustee just did a precious metals grab for his own purpose to keep the company in funds to do as he saw fit. If you have followed the Bullion Direct and NWTM bankruptcies you know what I mean when it comes to the stored metal. It didn't matter what the records showed, it only seemed to matter if someone's name was on a box of metal or not.

Doing business with Provident Metals at this time might very well be a gamble, you decide for yourself.

I've been a fan of Provident Metals for several years and have done a lot of business with them, more selling than buying.

That being said, the vast majority of all my Silver is in one ounce Northwest territorial Mint rounds, bought one to two decades before they went belly up.

You just never know what's going to bring down a bullion dealer as they will never tell you in advance.

NWTM was suppose to be running a Ponzi scheme back in the 1990's and if that was true they would never have lasted another 20 years.

So you do actually listen to some of the videos that I link to.
Until your post, that video was the only place on the entire internet that I have found referencing this MAJOR and obviously suppressed news event.
Damn Scotia banksters.

[valerb]

So you do actually listen to some of the videos that I link to.
Until your post, that video was the only place on the entire internet that I have found referencing this MAJOR and obviously suppressed news event.
Damn Scotia banksters.

Of course I do, just because most of them are as crazy as you, doesn't mean they are all insane!!!

I actually tried to send you a message this morning thanking you for that link, but your inbox is full.

Not only is this link you provided https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbDEPAFZECE

but then you can see a couple others out there with additional information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFpJ5w3_JPk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6pQrmkUbFU

Article: Billions in drug dealers’ illegal Amazon gold ‘laundered’ through Miami refinery, feds say - http://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...139228368.html

Article: Salesman Who Bought Gold in Jungle to Fight Laundering Case - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...dering-charges

[silverheartbone]

Those were some informative videos.
Thanks for posting those links.

I just saw the email about the full emailbox, but with only a ridiculously tiny 50 message limit, why bother clearing it?

Now I see that you are all over this story. Now I know where to go for the news.

[valerb]

Those were some informative videos.
Thanks for posting those links.

I just saw the email about the full emailbox, but with only a ridiculously tiny 50 message limit, why bother clearing it?

Now I see that you are all over this story. Now I know where to go for the news.

That really sucks, I guess it really is not who you know, but who you, well you know the rest of that line...

I only have a 25 message limit

[valerb]

An interesting message from the boss himself at Provident, truth, fiction, life preserver, who knows, only time will tell.

I'm very skeptical of anything going on within the Elemetal organization right now and that includes Provident Metals.

Message from CEO Joe Merrick

By ProvidentMetals.com on April 10, 2017Filed Under: News


As you may know, there have been recent negative articles written about alleged South American activities of three former employees of NTR Metals Miami, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Elemetal, LLC. Provident is partially owned by Elemetal.

In light of this media, I want to give you an update on Provident’s status. For over a year, Elemetal and Provident have been seeking a new business partner for Provident in its next chapter of growth.

In late 2016, I found a new partner and we are currently moving forward to effectuate an agreement.

As always, Provident looks forward to continuing to serve you well during this transition and the many exciting years to come. And we wish Elemetal the very best.

Sincerely,

Joe Merrick
President and CEO

[valerb]

Apparently some people are still selling their metal to Elemetal and that seems to be a very tiny business right now as well as the Elemetal organization as a whole.

From what I can see today, Provident Metals which claimed to be minting their own one ounce rounds of several different versions in addition to different size bars, has completely become a thing of the past.

They continue to sell some bars with their name on them, however they are produced by other mints.

Provident Metals was selling a number of products produced by Elemetal Mint as well and currently only has a couple items remaining in their inventory from what I can see.

The CEO of Provident Metals stated they were cutting the cord from the Elemetal group a couple months ago to quiet the bad news stories and said it has been in the works since last year and they had a new partner in the works.

Well when visiting the Elemetal online website, they are still stating Provident is their outlet and they still talk about the products they are selling which coincides with the items Provident is actually selling today. Mostly from other private mints versus Elemetal Mint. So there does not seem to be any disconnect from the Elemetal as yet.

The issue with selling to Elemetal as I understand it today, they only have a single employee to deal with your transactions. That employee was supposedly off sick a number of days last week and no one was taking care of business at all.

True, false, I don't know, it didn't happen to me!!! All I can do is relay the information as it's taking place today for those that might still be thinking of doing business with them.

Personally I thought Elemetal had several locations to sell your metal, but then they might not have actually been Elemetal, just using their name for business purposes.

I always thought they were for selling on a scrap basis only, could be wrong, not willing to find out myself.

I haven't read anything damning regarding Provident Metals as of yet other than just watching their web page and sales or the lack of them over the past many months in addition to the loss of all the Provident produced items.

The products they are currently selling appears to be heading back to where they were a few years ago before teaming up with Elemetal. Golden State Mint, SilverTowne and back to those lower end Highland Mint products.

Provident did a 180 when they dumped Highland Mint and produced and sold their own high quality rounds for several years and now it's another 180 the other way.

I can't say if Provident is going to survive this fiasco with Elemetal or go down with them as they seem to be all but dead right now.

I would just advise everyone to stay away from Provident Metals for now and the foreseeable future to protect yourself, these people don't tell anyone they are biting the bullet until after the gun has been fired.

Provident may not be in any kind of trouble themselves as a dealer, but could be dragged down with Elemetal.

They haven't been offering many sales over the past several months and their premiums are not all that competitive anymore, indicating a potential problem to me.

That's my latest 2¢ update on Provident.

[valerb]

Just one more reason to avoid Provident Metals products. If you have any and there is a bunch of it out there, now might be the time to dump it for anything else before it becomes a toxic product everywhere.

First it was just rumors of one place declining to accept Elemetal products and now it's being broadcast that KITCO is taking it, but with a substantial discount to the spot price.

I'm afraid that this can turn into a hot potato that everyone will jump on for profit taking, as in buying it at well below the spot price just because it's fashionable and profitable.

Kitco is posting the exact same thing on each of the Silver bars they offer to buy back from the public. The following is just one example of their postings.

Hopefully they will not be including the one ounce rounds Provident was producing, but I'm sure some will just by association.


Kitco Doesn't Want NTR/Elemetal/OPM/Provident Bars

June 23, 2017 8:50PM EST

I had heard from several sources that there was an issue with impure Elemetal, NTR, and OPM gold (and possibly silver) bars. I had been told specifically that Dillon Gage's refining department was refusing to accept these bars. When I asked, the person responding asked his boss how to respond, but they never did. I got quite a few tips from people who gave pretty compelling evidence of impure bars.
Now, however, there is official confirmation of a problem (not necessarily impurity), as Kitco's buyback pages for gold and silver bars now states in large bold letters "Note: The following brands carry a large discount to spot. Please call us for a live indication of our bid on the following items: Elemetal, OPM, NTR & Provident Metals."

Kitco:

Although there could be other reasons for this, it is sounding more and more like there are impure NTR/Elemetal/OPM bars. Of note is that they are now including Provident Metal bars, as well as silver.

[valerb]

Kitco's Response

June 26, 2017 1:10PM EST from about.ag

I just got the official line from Kitco. They wrote: "We have received news that Elemetal refiner’s Comex status has been revoked for the time being. Because of this, any customer selling bars under their brands will be bought at a lower price as none of these bars will be resold to our customers, only melted."

As most readers are aware, COMEX suspended warranting of Elemetal bars just about 3 months ago. They did not suspend OPM bars (which are listed as "no longer produced"), and NTR/Provident bars were never COMEX approved.

When buying bars from Kitco, they specify that they sell bars from "selected reputable refiners", whereas when selling bars to Kitco they do not specify what brand(s) are acceptable. Until now, that is.

June 26, 2017 1:10PM EST: I have heard that Kitco is paying $1 below spot for NTR/Elemetal/OPM/Provident silver bars (versus $.25 under spot for others), and $20 below spot for NTR/Elemetal/OPM/Provident gold bars (versus $7.50 under spot for others).

[valerb]

the following from about.ag

Purity Law

June 28, 2017 8:45AM EST

Many people are wondering about what the laws are regarding purity of metals. My standard disclaimer applied: I am not a lawyer, and cannot provide legal advice.That said, there is an old U.S. law from 1906 that requires gold to be no less than .003 below what is marked, and silver to be no less than .004 below what is marked. So for .999 or .9999 fine gold, it would be required to be .996 or .9969. For .999 or .9999 fine silver, it would be required to be .995 or .9959.



Of course, there are other laws that might apply as well.




Elemetal Refining's President Gone

June 28, 2017 9:15AM EST

I just found out that Elemetal Refining's President, Conor Dullaghan, left Elemetal Refining on June 22, and is no longer working with the Elemetal companies


Dr. Dullaghan's name appeared in the Elemetal/NTR saga when a letter surfaced that he had sent to Elemetal Refining customers, letting them know that Elemetal could not pay them when due, and would pay them over six months.




Have You Received Elemetal Refining Payments?

June 28, 2017 9:25AM EST

On April 28, 2017, Elemetal Refining paid their customers 20% of what they were owed.

The next payment was scheduled for June 15, 2017, with another 20% to be paid.If you are an Elemetal Refining customer, could you please let me know if you got that payment? I had a report from someone who did not. You can either send an anonymous tip or E-mail.





LBMA's Reason: Not Responsible Gold

June 28, 2017 12:35PM EST

At a conference in Singapore on June 5, 2017, LBMA's CEO Ruth Crowell gave an update on London markets.

In it (at around the 11:35 mark), she discusses their de-listing of Elemetal. It had been widely assumed that they were de-listed for the $3.5B of illegal gold they bought. Ms. Crowell confirmed this, by stating "We delisted a refiner called Elemetal. They are based in the United States. This is for falling afoul of our responsible gold guidelines due to their ongoing FBI investigation."Please note that while taken as it was spoken it implies that Elemetal is under investigation, that may have been misspoken. We know that 3 Elemetal (a/k/a NTR Metals) employees were arrested and indicted, and Elemetal assisted in the investigation of the employees. However, I have not seen anything (public or otherwise) stating that Elemetal (the company, as opposed to individual employees) is/was under investigation. It certainly is a possibility, but not one that is publicly known, and I doubt that her statement really meant that LBMA knows Elemetal is under investigation.