Items of jewellery being sold as platinum but which have in fact been adulterated with cheaper materials such as iridium and silver have been intercepted in the Southern Chinese Guangdong province.

The state-run non-ferrous metals information service Antaike said on Tuesday (June 17th) that, following the discovery, 'the state's testing authorities required all retailers and consumers to return the adulterated products to the Guangdong testing centres for inspection'.

Wholesale suppliers of platinum would suffer most from the sales, as, although they may not have known they were handling goods of reduced quality, they would have to repay retailers and consumers.

'Plants use iridium to make the jewellery as its price is only one tenth of platinum's', the Antaike spokesman explained.

'We expect by June 20th all platinum sold in the Guangdong market should be genuine', she added.