If you are an international gold buyer evaluating an offer from an African supplier, the difference between a sound transaction and a costly loss usually comes down to one thing: whether anyone independently verified the supplier and the material before funds moved. This checklist is the one we walk gold buyers through on every engagement. It is not exhaustive — every transaction has its own shape — but it covers the checks that matter most before you pay.
1. Confirm the supplier exists as a legal entity
Before you evaluate capacity or pricing, confirm the company is real. Request the full registered name, registration number, and the country of incorporation. Then verify that registration against the relevant national registry or companies authority — not against a document the supplier emailed you.
A surprising number of fraudulent gold offers come from entities that either do not exist in the registry, were deregistered years ago, or use a name that is close to — but not the same as — a legitimate company. Typo-squatting on real names is common.
What to check at the entity level:
- Registered legal name and registration number, confirmed against the official registry
- Status of the registration (active, suspended, deregistered)
- Registered address — and whether it is a real operating site or a virtual office
- Directors and beneficial owners where disclosable under local law
- Whether the entity is licensed to mine, trade, or export gold in that jurisdiction
2. Verify licensing and export authority
A company can be legally registered and still have no authority to mine or export gold. Most African gold-producing countries require specific licences for mining, dealing, and exporting. These are separate permissions, not one document, and they are the documents most commonly forged or borrowed in fraudulent offers.
Ask for the licence numbers and issuing authority, then verify them directly. A valid export permit today is not the same as a claim that the supplier held one two years ago — permits expire, are revoked, and are sometimes issued to entities that no longer operate.
3. Authenticate the documents you have been sent
Most gold-buyer losses begin with a document that looked plausible but was forged, altered, or recycled from an earlier transaction. The documents you receive should be checked against the issuing authority and for internal consistency.
A common red flag is a certificate of origin with a format that does not match the issuing country's current template, or an export permit number that does not appear in the issuing authority's records.
Documents to authenticate before payment:
- Certificate of origin — checked against the issuing authority
- Export permit or licence — validity, scope, and expiry verified
- Assay certificates — checked for consistency with the claimed material and form
- Bills of lading or transport documents — checked for tampering and consistency
- Commercial invoices and packing lists — cross-checked against the other documents
4. Trace the chain of custody
Chain of custody is the single most important and most overlooked area in African gold due diligence. A supplier may be registered and licensed, but if they cannot explain — with evidence — how the gold moved from the mine site to the point of export or handover, you have a custody gap. Gaps are where fraud and conflict-mineral exposure hide.
Ask for a step-by-step account of the custody path: who mined it, who held it, how it was transported, where it was stored, and who handled each transfer. Each step should have supporting evidence — receipts, transfer notes, warehouse records, or transport documents.
5. Confirm on-ground reality with a site visit
Documents tell you what a supplier claims. A site visit tells you what is actually there. Where the transaction justifies it, an independent on-ground visit confirms that the supplier operates where they say they do, has the capacity they claim, and holds material consistent with the offer.
A site visit is also where staged operations are exposed. Some fraudsters rent a warehouse and stock it with material for the duration of a buyer's visit. A trained analyst looks for signs of a real operating presence — not a showroom set up for one meeting.
6. Require independent inspection before payment
Seller-provided assay results can be accurate — but they can also be staged, recycled, or taken from a different batch entirely. Before you pay, require independent inspection and, where appropriate, independent sampling for assay by a reputable third party that is not controlled by the seller.
Veritas does not operate a laboratory. Where instructed, we coordinate and oversee independent pre-shipment inspection so the results a buyer relies on are not produced by the party selling to them.
7. Get a consolidated risk report before releasing funds
Every gold buyer engagement should end with a decision-ready report. The report should consolidate entity checks, document authentication, custody assessment, site findings, and inspection results into a clear risk picture — with a recommendation to proceed, renegotiate, or walk away.
This is the document your compliance team, your bank, and your investment committee will want to see. It is also the document that protects you if the transaction later goes wrong.
Request Gold Buyer Due Diligence
Tell us what you have been offered and what you need verified. No obligation, no commitment — just an independent assessment before your funds move.
Independent due diligence is not a formality. It is the process that turns a seller's claims into a verified risk picture you can act on — before your capital is committed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does gold buyer due diligence take?
Desk-based verification — entity checks, document review, and inconsistency screening — can typically begin within 24 to 48 hours. On-ground site visits are usually scheduled within 72 hours in capital cities where we have resident analysts. A full engagement usually runs five to ten business days depending on scope and country.
Can I run this checklist myself without an advisor?
Parts of it, yes. Entity checks and basic document review can be done remotely. But on-ground site visits, document authentication against local issuing authorities, and independent inspection oversight are difficult to do credibly from abroad — which is why most international buyers engage a local representative.
Does this checklist guarantee I will not be defrauded?
No due diligence process can guarantee a fraud-free outcome. What a structured checklist does is materially reduce your risk by catching the most common fraud patterns before your funds move. Buyers remain responsible for their own commercial and compliance decisions.
Before You Pay for African Gold, Verify It Independently
Tell us what you have been offered and what you need verified. No obligation — just an independent assessment before your funds move.