Gold rally reviving scrap recycling

London

THE surprising rebound in gold prices this year has given new life to unwanted jewellery, coins and trinkets - in the melting pot.

More than a third of the world's bullion supply usually comes from recycled metal, but purchases at pawn shops and cash-for-gold companies had slowed during a three-year slump in the market. That's all changed. With prices headed for their biggest annual gain since 2010, more people are unloading old treasures, recyclers are expanding capacity and some jewellers are seeing their businesses transformed.

"We're buying more gold than we're selling now," said Mark Williams, the owner of Farringdons, a jeweller in the Hatton Gardens gold district of London. "When there is an increase in the gold pri…