"You've had so much come out of the ETFs, " said Frank McGhee, head precious-metals dealer with Integrated Brokerage Services.

WSJ: Gold Rally May Lose Steam

"There was just an avalanche of stop-loss selling, " said Steve Murton, head of precious metals at Triland Metals, a brokerage firm in London.

WSJ: Gold's Great Unraveling Had a Few Harbingers

For platinum to surpass the yellow metal for a sustained period, two things would need to happen, said Tom Kendall, head of precious-metals research at Credit Suisse.

WSJ: Platinum Signals Nagging Economic Worries

Ian Hetherington, head of the British Metals Recycling Association, said there was a problem with the number of illegal scrap dealers in the UK which could be as many as 900.

BBC: Rail cable theft: Up to eight cases a day, MPs are told

He will be replaced by Andrew Mackenzie, currently head of the company's base metals business.

BBC: Marius Kloppers

Michael Lewis, global head of commodities research with Deutsche Bank, said the metals weakness had its origins back in July.

FORBES: Industrial Metals Suffer On Fears European Debt Crisis 'Morphing' Into Economic Weakness

Larry Scott, head of Scotia Mocatta in Toronto, said he could not discuss the location of precious metals held by the company.

CNN: Precious metals buried under debris