Location and laboratory

The tranquil town of Murnau, in the south of Bavaria, is home to the "international osmium depot", the main storage facility for the quantities of the eighth and last precious metal still available. Osmium has the highest value density of the precious metals and is stored at the site in Germany together with other precious metals of high value density such as platinum, ruthenium and gold.

In addition to the storage facility, there is also a materials research laboratory at the site, where incoming goods are checked for authenticity free of charge. In contrast to XRF analysis, the particularly advanced LIBS technology (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) also allows a look beneath the surface of bars and coins by measuring the emission spectra when a nanofield plasma generated by laser bombardment collapses.

Security and availability

In order to store strategic precious metals, it is necessary to be aware of a number of criteria that are decisive for security and availability.

The security of the storage facility is combined with direct access to the stored property at all times. The ‘safe within a safe’ concept secures goods assigned to individual customers, in contrast to simple compartment storage and high-volume storage. For reasons of practicability, collective storage applies to HighTech-Ready Osmium. When the goods are sold, the transfer of ownership, handover of money and subsequent storage in a high-security warehouse under secure conditions are included in the offer. Withdrawals or partial withdrawals are organized within a lead time of just 24 hours.

The four-eyes principle during storage, entry bans, strict camera surveillance, vein scans, a police station in the immediate vicinity and a special alarm technology as well as trained staff on site protect the precious metals of customers, HNWIs and family offices.

Insurance and cost efficiency

All goods are insured for the full amount stored. No minimum quantity or bulk surcharges are levied for the tranches to be stored. Delivery or removal to and from the storage is organized on request in partnership with FedEx.

The purchase of or exchange into HTR osmium requires storage in the Osmium World Council's high-security warehouse, as the goods are stored in collective custody. Crystalline osmium can also be stored in this warehouse. Storage costs amount to 1 percent per year of the stored quantity for goods up to €100,000 in value, and 0.5 percent above this amount. The goods are protected and insured in the warehouse. Upon receipt for exchange, the goods are checked again in the Osmium Institute's laboratory and then securitized and exchanged. Crystalline osmium removed from the warehouse can be returned to storage at any time after removal. This does not apply to HTR osmium due to the complex testing required before storage. 

The storage in Murnau is currently being expanded to include a storage with an even higher security standard in the rocky landscape of Lake Walchensee, which is expected to be available for further large storage volumes from 2028.

Information about the provider

The Osmium-World-Council OWC GmbH is an organization with the status of an international association of the osmium industry. Its task is to negotiate the so-called US rulings on the trade and transportation of the precious metal osmium to other countries and continents. The association organizes the annual osmium symposia and offers customers of the osmium institutes the opportunity to store crystalline osmium and other precious metals with a high value density. The Osmium-World-Council OWC GmbH will hereinafter simply be referred to as OWC.

The OWC is not a financial service provider or asset manager and does not maintain a custody account or any account for its storage customers, but rather a stock list.