How to Verify a Gold Doré Seller Before You Wire a Single Dollar

By Folarin Jackson · 20 October 2026

If you buy gold doré from West Africa long enough, someone will offer you a deal that looks perfect. The discount to spot is generous, the paperwork is stamped, and the seller says other buyers are waiting. Most of these offers fall apart once you ask for one specific document. A few of them are built to take your money before you ever get the chance to ask.

This guide is the checklist we run before a client puts money anywhere near a doré deal. None of it is secret. What matters is doing every step, in order, before any payment, including the "small" ones for inspection, insurance or "clearance."

What gold doré is, and why it attracts fraud

Doré is semi-pure gold poured at or near the mine. It still contains silver and other metals, and its gold content varies from bar to bar. You don't know what a doré bar is worth until an independent lab assays it. That gap between what the seller claims and what the bar contains is where most of the money gets lost.

Fraud follows that gap. Ghana's former state assayer, PMMC, publicly warned buyers about sellers using fake photos and videos of gold, gold-plated tungsten, and endless "transport" fees. It also described scammers shipping a gram or a kilo to build trust before asking for a large payment and disappearing (Graphic Online, MyJoyOnline). In Kenya, The Standard reported on a US commodities trader who flew to Nairobi in December 2025 for what he believed was a legitimate gold deal. Detectives described it as a staged fraud that cost him Sh37 million (The Standard).

The buyers in these stories weren't stupid. They skipped steps because the deal felt urgent.

Step 1: Confirm the seller can legally export, and that the rules haven't changed

Start with the export rules in the country of origin, before you look at the gold at all. In West Africa, those rules have changed a lot recently.

Ghana is the clearest example. Under the Ghana Gold Board Act (Act 1140), GoldBod replaced PMMC. Gold-dealing licences that PMMC or the Minister had issued to individuals stopped being valid, and only GoldBod may export artisanal and small-scale (ASM) gold (Ghana News Agency). On 24 August 2026, GoldBod went further. Its directive says that from 1 September 2026, no unrefined gold doré will be approved for export under its offtake arrangements. Doré must first be refined at a GoldBod-approved refinery in Ghana (GoldBod).

What this means for you: if someone is offering "export-ready Ghanaian doré" today, they need to tell you which licence and which export approval covers it. If the answer is an old PMMC licence, or vagueness, stop.

Nigeria: mineral titles are recorded with the Mining Cadastre Office, which runs a public online cadastre at miningcadastre.gov.ng. Exports need their own permits from the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development. Nigeria is also pushing to curb raw-mineral exports in favour of processed products (AJOT), so check the current rules directly with the Ministry before you sign anything.

Step 2: Verify the mine title and the chain of custody

Ask for the mineral title number and the name of the licence holder. Then check them yourself against the government registry. Don't rely on a PDF the seller sends you. Questions to settle:

Then map the chain of custody from mine to aggregator to exporter to you. Every handover should have a document, and every document should name the same quantities.

Step 3: Run sanctions and watch-list screening on every party

Screen the seller, its directors, its beneficial owners, the exporter, the refinery and the receiving vault. Use the free US tools:

Save dated screenshots of the results. If you buy for an EU entity, also screen against the EU consolidated sanctions list. Repeat the screening right before payment, not just at onboarding.

Step 4: Match the paperwork against itself

Fraudulent packs usually fall apart on internal consistency, not on any single document. Lay these side by side:

Check whether the names, weights, bar numbers, dates and signatories match. Check that the registration number on the company extract matches the official registry. A real exporter's documents agree with each other. A fabricated set usually has one weight that doesn't add up, or one date that comes before the licence was issued.

Step 5: Insist on an independent assay that you control

The seller's assay certificate is a marketing document until proven otherwise. You need:

Because tungsten's density is so close to gold's, a scale and a "look" prove nothing. Fire assay or a refinery melt is what counts.

Step 6: Structure payment so the gold moves before the money does

The safest structures put your money behind verified delivery, not ahead of it:

Red flag: any request for an upfront payment to "release," "insure," "clear customs," "pay tax" or "renew the SKR." The PMMC warning describes exactly this pattern (Graphic Online).

Step 7: Check that the price makes sense

Doré trades at a discount to the LBMA price to cover refining, transport, insurance, assay risk and financing. A small, reasoned discount is normal. A large discount with no explanation is how fraud gets your attention. If the price beats every refinery's offer by a wide margin, ask yourself why the seller isn't selling to them.

Step 8: Run OECD-style due diligence and keep the file

If you're a US or EU buyer, your refiner, bank and auditors will expect your process to follow the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals, which has a gold supplement. In practice, that means documented supplier risk assessment, red-flag review, risk mitigation, and records you can show to an auditor. US dealers in precious metals may also have anti-money-laundering programme obligations under FinCEN's rules, so check your status with counsel.

For a fuller, mineral-agnostic version of this process, see our critical minerals supplier due diligence checklist.

The one thing to do today

Pick the doré offer currently sitting in your inbox. Ask the seller for three things: the mineral title number, the export approval reference, and agreement that your inspector draws the assay sample. Then watch how they respond. Legitimate sellers answer these questions routinely. Fraudulent ones start talking about urgency.

If you'd like a second set of eyes, run the deal through our free Check a Deal for Red Flags tool, or look at the sample verification report to see what a full review covers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if a gold doré seller is legitimate?

Check four things before paying. The seller holds a valid mineral title or a licence to trade and export, verified on the government registry. Every party clears OFAC and Consolidated Screening List checks. The paperwork is internally consistent. And the seller accepts an independent assay drawn by an inspector you appoint.

Can I still buy unrefined gold doré from Ghana?

GoldBod's directive says that from 1 September 2026, no unrefined gold doré will be approved for export under its offtake arrangements. It must be refined at a GoldBod-approved refinery in Ghana first. Treat any offer of unrefined Ghanaian doré for export as a red flag until the seller shows the specific approval that covers it.

Is the seller's assay certificate enough?

No. Use an independent inspection company that you appoint and pay for, with the sample drawn in your inspector's presence. Final settlement should ideally be based on a recognised refinery's outturn assay.

What payment terms protect a gold buyer?

A documentary letter of credit, escrow released on refinery outturn, or payment against refinery assay. Never pay upfront fees for clearance, insurance, taxes or safekeeping receipts.

What is the most common gold doré scam?

Advance-fee fraud. The seller shows real-looking gold or documents, sometimes ships a small genuine sample, then asks for a series of fees before the "main" shipment. The main shipment never arrives.

Talk to us before you wire

Aurefield Global Resources combines West Africa sourcing relationships with Western compliance standards (OECD due diligence, OFAC screening, KYC/AML). We verify counterparties, title and product before our clients commit capital. Book a consultation or review our verification services.

This article is general information, not legal or investment advice. Rules change, so confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before you transact.