Collin Kettell
Palisades Goldcorp Ltd.
collin@palisades.ca

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Building the Largest Silver Vault in the World

A Bloomberg article published on Sunday, April 11, has been creating quite a buzz in the physical metal markets.

Titled Singapore Dealer Prepares Vault for 15,000 tons of Silver, the article centers around Singapore’s predominant bullion dealer and vault owner – Silver Bullion Pte Ltd. – which is in the process of upgrading to a 15,000 metric ton capacity storage facility named The Reserve.

Trying to conceptualize the size of such a hoard of silver is tough, but at today’s price it would exceed $10-billion. Put simply, The Reserve will be the largest precious metals vault anywhere on planet earth.

The mastermind behind Silver Bullion and The Reserve is Gregor Gregersen, (whose parents may or may not have had a pretty good sense of humor)!

Silver Bullion Founder Gregor Gregersen

I met Gregor eight years ago at an entrepreneurship camp put on by Simon Black in Lithuania. I was a student; Gregor was an instructor.

While I have not spoken to Simon Black much since the event, I must thank him profusely for introducing me to Gregor.

Palisades owns 8% of Silver Bullion Pte. Ltd, worth in excess of $20-million based on the company’s latest financing round. Additionally, Gregor is a member of the Board of Directors of Palisades Goldcorp and heads its Audit Committee.

Gregor is one of those incredible entrepreneurs. Anything he touches literally turns to gold, or in this case thousands upon thousands of thousand-ounce bars of silver. I do my best to invest in anything he is a part of, or more accurately implore him to let me participate.

Gregor’s story is unique. During 2008, Gregor was residing in Germany, working at a major bank. His expertise was in developing systems and programs to account for complex problems and tracking. Gregor witnessed first-hand the destruction, and lack of liquidity that occurred during the Financial Crisis.

A book that he had read – From Third World to First World, by Lee Kuan Yew – inspired him to pack up and head to Singapore.

Upon arrival in Singapore, Gregor tried to purchase some silver to prevent against future events of illiquidity. There was just one problem: he could not find anyone to buy it from.

Gregor decided to test the market. He began by meeting people in a train station, exchanging bars of silver for bags of cash. What is dawning on you now, dawned on Gregor back in 2010…

If people were willing to meet him in a train station with bags of cash, he knew there was a market for silver.

In April 2009, Gregor incorporated Silver Bullion SG. He established relationships with global mints and refineries, providing a conduit to bring bullion into the Singaporean market.

Shortly thereafter, he saw an even bigger opportunity – bullion storage. Gregor identified Singapore as an ideal location for international customers to safely hold bullion, particularly for the large US market. He also saw a flawed system that was in need of dependability and proper controls.

Gregor rented a facility and opened The Safe House, a fully secure, insured, and top-quality bullion storage facility, catered to silver bugs.

In 2017, I had a chance to visit The Safe House. It looked like a Costco. Aisle after aisle of bullion, perfectly stacked on crates, with a forklift to match. Each bar was marked with a barcode and serial number, denoting an individual owner and providing a system to keep track.

The procedures, organization, and professionalism were unreal. This is in stark contrast to other vaults I have visited that feel unsafe for humans, let alone the bullion they stockpile.

By 2019, Silver Bullion and The Safe House were doing serious business. So much so, that Gregor started looking for a bigger Costco to move into.

When the COVID-crash hit in March 2020, sales went bonkers. Silver Bullion recorded record sales that month, selling more bullion in 30 days, than they had in the prior 5 months combined.

Gregor got serious about locating a new vault. He realized that what he was looking for was going to be really big, and as such, should be iconic as well. Thanks to COVID, commercial real estate was suffering and Gregor managed to pick up an ideal building and for a great bargain.

And so, The Reserve was founded. The Reserve is owned 90% by Silver Bullion and will house the future Safe House. Gregor has a $10M+ renovation planned that is set to complete in early 2022.

I have seen initial mockups of the design, and it’s mind-blowing! Imagine the coolest Apple store you’ve ever seen, but filled with thousands of tons of shiny metal.

I am not at liberty to share the renderings or discuss the plans in detail, but as soon as Gregor gives the okay, I will be sharing them with you all here first.

Silver Bullion is an incredible company and it has been amazing to watch Gregor grow it since I met him in 2013. The company has no debt, over $30M of working capital and is poised to become a global fixture in bullion storage.

I personally hold seven-figures of bullion at The Safe House and would be hard-pressed to consider storing it anywhere else. I have friends who have had hundreds of thousands of dollars go missing by placing their bullion with unreputable vaults. I have a small amount of bullion stored in a vault in Canada that I hardly felt safe dropping my bag of silver off at.

Trust is everything when it comes to banking and storage – Gregor understands that and instills confidence in his customers. That is going to go a long way and I believe Silver Bullion’s new 15,000-ton capacity vault will fill up faster than Gregor currently imagines.

Until next time,

Collin Kettell
Founder & Executive Chairman
Palisades Goldcorp Ltd.

Disclosure: Aside from my ownership in Silver Bullion Pte Ltd through Palisades Goldcorp, I also personally own 2% of the Company and 1% of The Reserve.

NOTE: This material is for discussion purposes only. This is not an offer to buy or sell or subscribe or invest in securities. The information contained herein has been prepared for informational purposes using sources considered reliable and accurate, however, it is subject to change and we cannot guarantee the accurateness of the information. The material does not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Palisades Goldcorp Ltd.