Tanaka Precious Metals is the trading identity of a Japanese precious metals group whose refining arm, TANAKA PRECIOUS METAL TECHNOLOGIES Co., Ltd., holds LPPM Full Member status and appears on the LPPM Good Delivery Lists for both platinum and palladium (London Platinum and Palladium Market, accessed 6 August 2026). The group traces to a company established in 1885 and today operates under a holding structure that also owns the Swiss refiner Metalor Technologies. Tanaka is one of several names on the roster of accredited PGM refiners worldwide, and the sections below cover what it refines, its accreditation tier, its ownership, its 2025 reorganization and the physical PGM forms it supplies.
What Is Tanaka Precious Metals?#
Tanaka Precious Metals is a Japanese precious metals group tracing to a company established in 1885, restructured over two subsequent holding-company transitions. TANAKA Holdings Co., Ltd. became the group's holding company on 1 April 2010, and on 1 January 2025 the group reorganized again around a newly established parent, TANAKA PRECIOUS METAL GROUP CO., LTD. (TANAKA Precious Metals, accessed 6 August 2026). No public stock exchange listing or ticker is documented for either holding entity in the sources reviewed for this page, distinguishing Tanaka from a separately-reporting public refiner such as Johnson Matthey plc.
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Legal domicile | Japan |
| Founding year | 1885 |
| Holding company (2010-2025) | TANAKA Holdings Co., Ltd. |
| Current parent (from 1 January 2025) | TANAKA PRECIOUS METAL GROUP CO., LTD. |
| Refining/accreditation entity | TANAKA PRECIOUS METAL TECHNOLOGIES Co., Ltd. |
| Public listing | Not documented in the sources reviewed |
Tanaka Precious Metals's PGM Refining Capability#
Tanaka refines platinum and palladium to the London Platinum and Palladium Market's 99.95% Good Delivery minimum fineness, and separately holds accreditation to supply rhodium sponge, named first because these are the only PGM forms with a formal international accreditation regime behind them (LPPM Good Delivery Rules, June 2020 edition; LPPM Sponge Accreditation, accessed 6 August 2026). The 99.95% threshold, four significant figures on the fineness stamp, applies specifically to platinum (Pt, atomic number 78) and palladium plate or ingot; it is the LPPM's industry-wide wholesale standard for every accredited refiner, not a Tanaka-specific figure.
Two feed routes exist industry-wide for LPPM-listed refiners: primary mine concentrate and secondary material such as spent autocatalyst and industrial scrap. The sources reviewed for this page document Tanaka's accreditation tier and product forms but do not break out its own feed mix by source, so that split is not stated here as a Tanaka-specific fact.
Reaching Good Delivery status at all demonstrates a baseline of scale and stability, since the LPPM's own application criteria require an applicant to have operated for at least five years, to have been involved in refining the relevant metal for at least three of those years, to show established annual refining production of at least 500 kg of contained platinum or palladium, and to hold a tangible net worth of at least 15 million pounds sterling (LPPM Good Delivery Rules, June 2020 edition). Tanaka's own corporate history, dating to 1885 and carrying two subsequent holding-company restructurings, comfortably clears the five-year and three-year thresholds; the production and net-worth figures specific to Tanaka are not separately published in the sources reviewed.
Tanaka Precious Metals and LPPM/LBMA Accreditation#
Tanaka holds LPPM Full Member status plus Good Delivery listing for both platinum and palladium, a tier shared with Johnson Matthey, Heraeus, Metalor, BASF and Sabin (LPPM members list, accessed 6 August 2026). The table below states each accreditation separately, since the LPPM lists platinum, palladium and rhodium accreditation as distinct regimes rather than one blanket status.
| Accreditation | Status for Tanaka | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| LPPM Full Member | Confirmed | LPPM members list, accessed 6 Aug 2026 |
| LPPM Good Delivery, platinum | Confirmed (TANAKA PRECIOUS METAL TECHNOLOGIES Co., Ltd., Japan) | LPPM Good Delivery platinum list, accessed 6 Aug 2026 |
| LPPM Good Delivery, palladium | Confirmed | LPPM Good Delivery palladium list, accessed 6 Aug 2026 |
| LPPM rhodium sponge accreditation | Confirmed (named on the accredited roster) | LPPM Sponge Accreditation, rhodium list, accessed 6 Aug 2026 |
| Referee status | Not held by Tanaka; held separately by its subsidiary Metalor | Metalor company profile, accessed 6 Aug 2026 |
Rhodium sponge accreditation is worth stating on its own because rhodium has no futures contract, no Good Delivery bar and no daily fixing; the LPPM's rhodium sponge list, naming roughly 19 accredited refiners against the LPPM page's own stated count of 20, is the closest the rhodium market has to a formal quality standard, and Tanaka is one of the named entities on it (LPPM Sponge Accreditation, rhodium list, accessed 6 August 2026).
Ownership and Corporate Structure#
Tanaka operates as a privately held Japanese group under its own holding company, not as a subsidiary of another named parent. The reverse relationship holds instead: Tanaka itself owns Metalor Technologies International SA, a Swiss PGM refiner headquartered in Marin, Switzerland, acquired from private equity owner Astorg (Metalor company profile; TANAKA Precious Metals, accessed 6 August 2026). The exact completion date of that acquisition is not confirmed in the sources reviewed and is not stated here as a fact.
Metalor carries its own, separate accreditation record: it is an LPPM Full Member and a referee at both the LBMA and the LPPM, meaning it performs the assay proficiency testing that polices the Good Delivery lists, a materially higher tier than Tanaka's own plain Good Delivery and sponge listings. LPPM policy lists parent and subsidiary refiners as distinct accredited entities rather than merging one's status into the other's, and this page follows that same distinction.
Recent Corporate Changes#
Tanaka completed a group-wide reorganization effective 1 January 2025, transitioning to a management structure centered on the newly established TANAKA PRECIOUS METAL GROUP CO., LTD. TANAKA Precious Metals announced the change on 6 August 2024, stating the reorganization's aim as improving productivity and management efficiency by clarifying the function of each group company (TANAKA Precious Metals news release, 6 August 2024). The move sits alongside Tanaka's earlier structural step, the 1 April 2010 creation of TANAKA Holdings Co., Ltd. as the group's first dedicated holding company, marking the second major corporate restructuring in the group's post-1885 history.
PGM Products and Commercial Forms#
Tanaka's LPPM accreditation record points to two documented physical PGM forms: Good Delivery plate or ingot in platinum and palladium, and rhodium sponge. Good Delivery bars must meet the LPPM's 99.95% minimum fineness, carry a four-significant-figure fineness stamp, a producer's recognized mark, an individual serial number and the year of manufacture (LPPM Good Delivery Rules, June 2020 edition).
- Platinum and palladium plate/ingot: the wholesale trading form covered by Tanaka's Good Delivery listing, minimum 1 kg to maximum 6 kg per bar under LPPM rules.
- Rhodium sponge: the porous metal form covered by Tanaka's separate LPPM sponge accreditation, since rhodium has no bar-based Good Delivery list.
Beyond these two accredited forms, Tanaka's Swiss subsidiary Metalor separately markets a broader range under its own name, including powders and flakes, electronics plating solutions, bullion and investment products, and fine chemical and pharmaceutical catalysts across three business groups (Metalor company profile, accessed 6 August 2026). Those are Metalor's own documented product lines, distinct from the plate, ingot and sponge forms tied specifically to TANAKA PRECIOUS METAL TECHNOLOGIES' Good Delivery and sponge accreditation.
Where Tanaka Precious Metals Coverage Stops on DailyPlatinum#
This page reports Tanaka's refining capability, accreditation tier and ownership structure as documented facts, not investment advice, share-price commentary or stock analysis. DailyPlatinum does not track Tanaka's or its affiliates' equity performance, and readers asking whether Tanaka is a good investment should look elsewhere; this page's scope ends at refining, accreditation and corporate-structure reporting, the same border applied across every refiner page on this site.
Other Accredited PGM Refiners#
Tanaka shares its LPPM Full Member and Good Delivery tier with several other named refiners on the same accreditation lists:
- Johnson Matthey
- Heraeus
- Metalor (Tanaka's own Swiss subsidiary)
- BASF Metals
- Sabin Metal Corporation
Frequently Asked Questions#
Is Tanaka Precious Metals a Japanese company? Yes. Tanaka Precious Metals traces to a company established in Japan in 1885, and its current parent, TANAKA PRECIOUS METAL GROUP CO., LTD., took its present form on 1 January 2025 under Japanese corporate domicile.