Stats Intraday and market microstructure Gold auction

The gold price is set in 30 second rounds by 15 firms

ParameterLBMA Gold PriceLBMA Silver Price
Auction times, London10:30 and 15:0012:00
Round length30 seconds30 seconds
Imbalance tolerance10,000 oz500,000 oz
Non-standard imbalance cap4,000 oz per direct participant1,000,000 oz
Minimum allowable price moveUSD 0.05USD 0.001
Minimum order1 oz1,000 oz
Maximum single order100,000 oz1,000,000 oz
UnderlyingSpot loco London gold, unallocatedSpot loco London silver, unallocated
Direct participants listed by ICE1514
Indirect participants listed by ICE55
Administered by IBA since20 Mar 20152017
Decimals published2not stated in the document read

Sources: ICE Benchmark Administration gold auction specification (January 2026), ICE's precious metals methodology annex (January 2026), ICE's document on the administration of the LBMA Silver Price, and the ICE participant list read 3 Aug 2026. The silver figures come from ICE's transition document rather than a standalone silver specification, so treat them as slightly less firm than the gold ones.

The LBMA Gold Price is an auction outcome, run at 10:30 and 15:00 London by ICE. Rounds last 30 seconds and stop when buying and selling are within 10,000 ounces, with any leftover shared among the 15 direct participants. Gold ETFs settle off it.

10:30 and 15:00Auction times, London
30 secondsRound length
10,000 ozImbalance tolerance
15Direct participants

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