Producer
Heraeus Precious Metals
World's largest precious metals recycler and a major PGM refiner; Hanau (Germany) is primary site with €35M expansion by 2026 adding electrolytic lines; also operates PGM recycling in South Africa (Port Elizabeth), USA (Santa Fe Springs CA, Wartburg TN), China (Taicang), and India (Udaipur).
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Precious Metals (PGM Recycling + Refining + Trading)
50%Healthcare (Dental + Radiation + Biotech)
15%Electronics + Semiconductor (Quartz + Specialty Materials)
25%Industrial (Specialty Lamps + High-Temperature)
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Did you know2023
Heraeus Group (Hanau, Hesse, Germany; wholly owned by the Heraeus family; founded 1851 by Wilhelm Carl Heraeus as a pharmacy — growing into a precious metals business through the discovery that platinum group metals could be refined from platinum crucibles used in the pharmacy) is simultaneously: (1) the world's largest precious metals trader by trading volume (buying and selling gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium — including significant PGM recycled from spent catalytic converters); (2) the world's largest PGM recycler by processing capacity; (3) a major biotech materials supplier (Heraeus Medical's bone cements; Heraeus Kulzer dental materials — dental gold alloys, dental composites); (4) an industrial sensors and electronics company (Heraeus Electro-Nite temperature sensors for steel industry; Heraeus Conductive Polymers for electronics). One 173-year-old German family company — started as a pharmacy in the same town as the Brothers Grimm fairy tales were first published — is simultaneously the recycler of the platinum from your catalytic converter, the gold in your dentist's crown, and the sensors inside the blast furnace that made the steel in your car. Heraeus has no publicly traded shares and files no public financial reports; its full market position is largely invisible to the public.
Heraeus Group ↗Origin2023
Heraeus was founded in 1851 in Hanau, Germany by Wilhelm Carl Heraeus — who operated a pharmacy. The company's transformation began when Heraeus developed a reliable method to melt platinum using an oxyhydrogen flame — at the time, platinum's extremely high melting point (1,768°C) made it nearly impossible to work with in useful quantities. Heraeus's platinum melting capability enabled commercial platinum laboratory crucibles, platinum-lined chemical equipment, and eventually dental platinum alloys. The precious metals refining expertise expanded to gold, silver, and eventually the entire platinum group. After 170+ years, Heraeus remains family-owned (the Heraeus family holds majority control) — one of the wealthiest and oldest German family businesses, with revenues exceeding EUR 37 billion. The company spans: the world's largest precious metals recycler (automotive catalyst PGMs), dental alloy materials (gold-palladium crowns), semiconductor quartz glass (fab equipment), and prostate cancer brachytherapy seed implants (radioactive palladium-103). A 1851 Hanau pharmacy's investment in platinum melting technology built a company spanning precious metal recycling, dental medicine, semiconductor manufacturing, and cancer treatment.
Heraeus Holding GmbH ↗