“Behind every successful business is someone who made a courageous decision” quote hung at the front of Italpreziosi

When it comes to precious metals, gold is one of the most valuable ones out there. With value, however, risk can be very high. Italpreziosi, located in an industrial district within Arezzo, is one of the most innovative and forward thinking gold production companies out there. They use their innovation to take new risks and overcome any challenges that they may face. Some of these risks they take involve how profit off the gold they mine.

“We cannot wait until we receive the gold physically… we can have a big margin or a big loss. So we hedge the position and we have no exposure on the market for the fluctuation.”

Fortune can quickly shift in the gold market. Gold prices fluctuate quickly and interchangeably, meaning to invest in gold is to constantly take a risk. Italpreziosi manages this risk by selling freshly mined ore immediately to a company: Minimizing the exposure they have to volatile market swings. This is a typical response to market swings: sell before the prices change too much in one direction.

But risk is more than just typical corporate responses, and risk in the industry can’t be confined to this basic practice. Italpreziosi focuses on taking risks to build a sustainable company: One that is both environmentally friendly and ethically responsible. Italpreziosi co-owns mining companies to mine their ore, and they choose companies that must have a focus on sustainability, something that wasn’t common in this industry. This illustrates how they see risk not as something to merely avoid but as something to engage with intentionally, redefining industry norms in the process.


“Mining companies are one of our suppliers, and we carry out thorough assessments before accepting even a single gram of material from them. The assessment is very strict. The large majority of the opportunities that we have, we give up.”

This shows that Italpreziosi’s approach to sustainability is just as important as the gold itself. They could choose cheaper companies, maximizing their profit, but instead  they focus on sustainability and safe business practices to protect the countries where gold is mined, both the employees and the environment. Their ability to deny cheaper labor and practices is innovative in itself. It sets a new precedent within the industry, demonstrating that profitability and ethical responsibility don’t have to be mutually exclusive. By prioritizing long-term stability over short-term gains, Italpreziosi positions itself as a model for how modern companies can manage risk while driving meaningful, sustainable change.

 This decision to reject the majority of opportunities isn’t just about in the moment ethical standards–it’s a calculated long-term risk management strategy, protecting the company’s reputation and operational security.

Graph from Italpreziosi’s website showing their policy directives

“You don’t know how [the miners] work every day. So you have to make sure that you can actually be managing any potential risk related to mismanagement on the social and environmental side.”

There is, however, still risk in using third-parties within their business practices. Gold mining, and ore mining in general, has a big risk of human rights and environmental violations, and companies like Italpreziosi cannot afford to look the other way. Italpreziosi’s proactive strategy includes educating suppliers, enforcing traceability, and refusing to partner with those who cannot meet their standards.This highlights a critical tension in modern global industries: Trusting third-parties while knowing you can’t always fully control them. Italpreziosi’s emphasis on education and traceability is a pragmatic acknowledgment of that tension, and a smart way to reduce operational and reputational risk.

Graph from their website showing their environmental impact score

“If you don’t know what your impact is, you cannot do anything.”

In the constantly changing world of precious metals, risk is inevitable – but how a company chooses to approach risk with innovative solutions defines its long-term standard and character.  By embedding sustainability and ethics at the core of its operations, Italpreziosi has distinguished itself in an industry historically known for opacity and exploitation.