Which metals are in the Olympic medals?

The Olympics and Paralympics just wouldn’t be the same without the medal tally. Those moments on the podium, holding that medal as a symbol of extraordinary human achievement. Silver and Gold were awarded from the first 1896 Games in Athens, and Gold for first place was added in 1904. 

But have you ever wondered what those medals are made of? You might be surprised that a gold medal is not entirely gold!

The makeup of the medals changes dependant on the contracted supplier of each games, but a Gold medal is usually a gold-plated silver medal – (it must meet a minimum amount of Gold to abide by the minimum gold content standards from the International Olympic Committee). This doesn’t just keep the cost down, it also ensures strength of the medal to stay in shape. The silver medal is primarily silver with around 7.5% copper. 

For the Paris 2024 games, the medals were supplied by the French currency mint, the Monnaie de Paris and were designed by luxury French jewellers, Maison Chaumet. 

So what is the composition of each of the 2024 medals?

• Gold medals are 523 grams of silver (mixed with 7.5% copper), plated with 6 grams of gold.
• Silver medals weigh in at 525 grams and are 92.5% silver with 7.5% copper.
• Bronze medals are an alloy of 97% copper, 2,5% zinc and 0.5% tin.

Oh and by the way, if a Gold medal was entirely gold, at around 500 grams, this would have a value of more than US$42,000 / AUD$62,000 (Sept 2024 price) per medal. 

Where do these metals come from?

The minerals industry is global, but not every country operates to the highest standards. So where metals are extracted will depend on how ethical and responsible the processes are. The way minerals are extracted has changed a lot over the years as has the expectation from customers that the items meet ethical and responsible standards. Tasmania is a global leader in these standards. 

For the 2012 London Games, the 4,700 medals were supplied by Rio Tinto. And there’s a Tasmanian connection. The bronze medals contained 2.5% of zinc and that was sourced from Nystar (near Hobart).

While Tasmanian minerals aren’t used for each Olympics, our mines here do extract copper, gold, tin, zinc and silver.

For the 2024 Olympics, the minerals required for the medals were not extracted but were recycled to minimise carbon footprint. Of course, we can’t only ever recycle metals, because the world needs more than already exists, but in this case, it was possible. 

What other things rely on mining at the Olympics?

The list is a little too long to cover here. For example, we can’t have stadiums or electricity without mining, and we could transport athletes there without ships or aeroplanes.

But to be more specific about the sports themselves, the 2024 Minerals Council of Australia calendar highlights the following examples: 

• Timekeeping Systems require Silicon, Lithium, Gold and Copper;
• Gymnastics sprung floor requires Iron, Carbon and Manganese;
• BMX Freestyle chromoly steel bikes (chromoly is a stronger steel than mild carbon steel) require Iron, Carbon, Chromium and Molybdenum;
• Swimming pool water is treated with Copper, Silver and Zinc; and in,
• Track & Field we need Aluminium, Copper, Zinc, Carbon and Iron among others for items such as starting blocks, javelin, shotput and high jump frames. 

The Paris Olympics and Paralympics are the first in our lifetimes with the ambition to be climate positive and they will achieve this through offsetting carbon emissions but also using a mix of solar, wind and nuclear energy with battery storage and electric transport. 

Carrying on the traditions we love are all possible, but we all need to keep changing the way we do things to lower our individual and combined carbon footprint. Our industries are working at every turn to see how we can not only reduce carbon emmissions but also balance all the other aspects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to work in balance with the environment and take care of our people, our communities and the planet in general. 

Oh…Go Australia!