Royal Canadian Mint sourcing data shift: KYC and traceability lessons for mines
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Royal Canadian Mint will begin publishing country-of-origin data by material type, including flags for mixed feed, after a New York Times probe linked about 5% of its 2024 raw gold to a Texas supplier blending US and Colombian metal from Antioquia, a region tied to the Clan del Golfo cartel. Refining of all material from that supply chain has been suspended, despite the supplier holding a valid audit naming Colombia as a source. The Mint, a London Bullion Market Association Good Delivery refiner using Bullion Genesis traceability software, had previously classified the material as “North American”, exposing gaps in current KYC and risk-based supplier reassessment cycles.
Technical Brief
- Supplier risk reviews are tiered: low-risk every 4 years, moderate every 2, high-risk annually.
- As of early 2025, four suppliers were classed high-risk; three handled mixed-material feeds.
- The fourth high-risk supplier was flagged for regulatory findings on anti–money-laundering controls.
- KYC risk assessment explicitly scores geography, business nature, delivery channels, ownership and organisational structure.
- Responsible Metals and AML/ATF/KYC programmes are aligned with London Bullion Market Association guidance requirements.
- Bullion Genesis software is deployed to enable end‑to‑end tracing and provenance certification of refined gold.
- The Texas supplier held a valid audit naming Colombia’s Antioquia region as a declared gold source.
Our Take
The earlier 30 April item in our database on Royal Canadian Mint refining of Antioquia-sourced gold via a Texas supplier underlines that traceability gaps are not theoretical; they are already exposing refiners to reputational and compliance risk on Colombian material.
With four high‑risk suppliers on its books and reassessment cycles stretching up to four years for low‑risk sources, the Mint’s new disclosure regime will likely push other London Bullion Market Association–linked refiners to tighten audit intervals for mixed‑origin gold and silver feeds.
Gold dominates our 1,226‑story Mining corpus, but only a handful of pieces intersect ‘Safety’ and ‘Sustainability’ tags with conflict minerals, suggesting this case could become a reference point for how North American institutions handle cartel‑linked precious metals in future compliance frameworks.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
CMRR-io
Streamline coal mine roof stability assessments with our cloud-based CMRR software featuring automated calculations, multi-scenario analysis, and collaborative workflows.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.

