The medals and the process of "inlaying jade with gold" before "inlaying jade" were completed in the Shanghai Mint of China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation located in Putuo District, Shanghai. The raw materials needed for the medal works before "inlaying jade" came to Shanghai from across the sea - BHP Billiton's Cannington lead silver mine in Queensland, Australia, and the Escondida copper mine and Spence copper mine in Chile were provided. Among them, the gold bearing copper concentrate from Eskondida Copper Mine provides 13.04 kg of gold needed for popularity; The lead concentrate from Cunnington Lead Silver Mine provides 1.34 tons of silver needed for making popularity and silver medals; Spence Copper Mine in Chile provided 6.93 tons of electrolytic copper for making bronze medals and commemorative medals.
These raw materials used for the production of gold, silver and bronze medals for the Beijing Olympic Games have been smelted and refined by BHP Billiton's partners China Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Co., Ltd. and Henan Yuguang Gold Lead Group Co., Ltd. before being transported to the Shanghai Mint.
The combination of jade and metal will adopt a special process, which can improve/increase that the jade will not fall down and meet the needs of wearing and display. According to Professor Wang Yipeng of the School of Design of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the designers designed a buffer belt on the edge of the inner part of the jade ring, but there will still be collisions between jade and metal. A damping material is added in the middle. The liquid damping material is poured into the gap between the jade and the metal and then solidified to make the jade and the metal "fit together" and play the role of shock absorption. After dozens of experiments, even falling from a height of 20 meters, "gold inlaid jade" can be safe.
On March 13, Qinghai Kunlun Jade, Shanghai Mint and BOCOG signed the acceptance certificate of Kunlun Jade. All the jade rings used for 3030 Olympic medals were sent to the Shanghai Mint, waiting for the "gold inlaid jade" project.
In June 2008, the Shanghai Mint will complete the production of medals and officially deliver them to BOCOG. After the Olympic Games in August, the winners of all sports events of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will return to their hometown wearing the "Golden and Jade Marriage" medal with Chinese characteristics, taking away the blessing of the Chinese people on the Olympic movement.
