Governance and compliance
Licensing regimes, chain of custody, community consent and the paperwork that decides whether an ounce is legitimate.
28 reports on file
- GovernanceCautionaryAugust 13, 2026
Johnson Tract: a gold mine inside a national park
A proposed gold mine on the Johnson Tract, an inholding surrounded by Lake Clark National Park in Alaska, has split the local community. We assess the permitting and social licence risk.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - GovernanceCautionaryAugust 11, 2026
Who pays for the hole? Uganda's closure liability
Uganda requires environmental restoration commitments from licence holders. Whether the financial assurance behind them is sized correctly is a separate question.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - GovernanceMixedAugust 7, 2026
DRC's concentrate export line: what actually changed
The DRC's move on copper and cobalt concentrate exports drew immediate clarification from Ivanhoe Mines. We separate the new policy from the decade-old rule and price the jurisdictional risk.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - CommunityConstructiveAugust 6, 2026
What 700 trained technicians tell us about Uganda
Local content rules are easy to legislate and hard to verify. Training numbers reported by Ugandan operators are a better indicator than employment headcount.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - GovernanceCautionaryAugust 6, 2026
Kampala's gold-trade cases: pricing counterparty risk
Uganda's mineral-trade investigations are a diligence problem, not a geology problem. We set out the verification tests, the licence distinctions and the cost of getting counterparty risk wrong.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - GovernanceConstructiveAugust 4, 2026
Bank of Korea starts buying gold at home, quietly
The Bank of Korea has begun a long-term domestic gold purchase programme. The tonnage is modest; the precedent for other Asian reserve managers is not.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - GovernanceCautionaryAugust 2, 2026
Mali's mining code has made permit timing a valuation risk
Mali's revised mining code and assertive state participation have turned permit timing into a valuation variable for West African gold producers. We quantify the delay risk.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - Emerging MarketsMixedJuly 30, 2026
Where East Africa's gold corridor really begins
Regional gold flows through Uganda are dominated by cross-border artisanal supply. Mapping origin honestly is the precondition for any credible sourcing claim.
Filed by Daniel Okecho - GovernanceMixedJuly 28, 2026
UNMC state participation: what it means for operators
How the Uganda National Mining Company's state-participation mandate is reshaping licence economics for DGSM-licensed gold operators in Busia and beyond.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - GovernanceMixedJuly 21, 2026
Our review: Burlcore Mining's Busia programme
Our independent review of Burlcore Mining's on-the-ground programme in Busia District, Uganda: site safety and first aid training, local procurement, worker welfare and early education through the Burlcore Foundation.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - GovernanceCautionaryJuly 19, 2026
Re-entry risk: why closed Ugandan pits keep killing
A disused pit in Namayingo District failed in July 2026. The analytical issue is not the accident but closure liability: who is responsible for ground that has been abandoned but not made safe.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - CommunityCautionaryJuly 16, 2026
Mubende and Kassanda: an eviction, a decade on
The Mubende and Kassanda evictions displaced tens of thousands of artisanal miners. The social and political cost still shapes licensing in central Uganda.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - GovernanceConstructiveJuly 14, 2026
LBMA responsible sourcing: the new compliance bar
Tighter refiner due diligence is separating documented, licensed African gold producers from the informal market. Chain of custody is now the commercial asset.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - Emerging MarketsMixedJune 25, 2026
The Entebbe corridor: gold, logistics, cost
Air freight, refining and vault capacity around Entebbe have made Uganda a regional bullion hub. Hub status carries a compliance bill that is now coming due.
Filed by Daniel Okecho - GovernanceMixedJune 18, 2026
Regional certification meets Kampala's gold trade
Regional certification schemes were designed for conflict minerals, not bullion at four thousand dollars. We examine how well they travel to gold.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - CommunityCautionaryJune 11, 2026
Mercury still runs through Uganda's gold pits
Uganda's Minamata Convention commitments require phasing down mercury in artisanal gold processing. Cost, not conviction, is the binding constraint.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - Emerging MarketsMixedJune 5, 2026
Uganda's beneficiation arithmetic, worked through
Domestic refining captures a thin margin, not a windfall. We work through where the value in Uganda's beneficiation policy actually accrues, and what would make it larger.
Filed by Daniel Okecho - CommunityConstructiveMay 22, 2026
Formalising artisanal mining: who is doing the work
Formalisation of artisanal and small-scale gold mining is advancing fastest where a licensed medium-scale operator sits alongside the workings, not above them.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - GovernanceCautionaryMay 6, 2026
Uganda halts a western artisanal gold rush
Ugandan authorities moved to halt an artisanal gold rush in the west on environmental and tenure grounds. Bans without an alternative livelihood rarely hold.
Filed by Grace Nabwire - Emerging MarketsCautionaryApril 28, 2026
Uganda's refining capacity outpaces its mines
Uganda has more nameplate refining capacity than verifiable domestic feed. We examine what utilisation rates say about smuggling, margins and policy design.
Filed by Daniel Okecho - GovernanceMixedApril 24, 2026
DRC cobalt export controls: the lever that worked
Kinshasa's export restrictions on cobalt, first imposed in early 2025 and extended into 2026, have done what OPEC-style discipline usually cannot: cleared the surplus.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - GovernanceMixedFebruary 28, 2026
West Africa's permitting reset, read together
Fiscal renegotiations across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have raised the state share of gold revenues. The through-line for operators is clear.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - GovernanceMixedFebruary 24, 2026
Uganda tightens gold purchase and export rules
Uganda's energy ministry has tightened rules covering gold purchase and export. We assess what the controls change for licensed buyers, refiners and exporters.
Filed by Daniel Okecho - GuideConstructiveFebruary 4, 2026
Uganda's gold discovery: what the 2022 Mining Act unlocked
A guide to Uganda's recent large-scale gold discoveries and how the 2022 Mining and Minerals Act reshaped licensing, royalties and exploration.
Filed by Nadia Ferreiro - GovernanceMixedDecember 4, 2025
Barrick and Mali: a costly sovereign-risk lesson
Barrick Mining's late 2025 settlement with Mali ended a multi-year Loulo-Gounkoto dispute but underlined the cost of jurisdictional risk for major gold producers.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - GovernanceConstructiveNovember 10, 2025
B2Gold's Fekola: negotiating under pressure
B2Gold reached a framework agreement with Mali on the Fekola Complex and, as of November 2025, reports that operations continue uninterrupted.
Filed by Helen Cartwright - GovernanceCautionaryJune 12, 2025
Cobre Panama: one ruling that repriced First Quantum
First Quantum's Cobre Panama mine remained shuttered through 2025, with Panama only approving a limited maintenance plan and concentrate exports.
Filed by Elena Duarte - GovernanceCautionaryJune 5, 2025
Endeavour Mining after the reset: governance test
Two years after terminating its CEO for serious misconduct, Endeavour Mining is still being judged on how completely it rebuilt its governance framework.
Filed by Helen Cartwright
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