Questions to ask an African gold supplier

On identity and authority

1. What is your exact registered legal name and registration number, and in which jurisdiction? — A credible answer is immediate and matches the registry.
2. Which licence authorises you to deal in and export gold, and what is its number and expiry? — Should be specific about category, not just 'we are licensed'.
3. Who will be the exporter of record on my consignment? — If it is not them, they should name the entity and explain the relationship without prompting.
4. Can I confirm your licence with the issuing authority directly? — The only acceptable answer is yes.
5. Who are the directors and beneficial owners? — Refusal here ends the conversation.

On the material

1. Where does this material come from, and what documents evidence that? — Expect a specific origin and purchase records, not a region and a story.
2. Is the supply artisanal in origin, and what due diligence have you done on it? — A supplier who has never considered the question has not done the work.
3. What form and fineness are you offering, and on what basis is that figure stated? — Which laboratory, which method, what date.
4. Which laboratory will assay the lot, and may I instruct my own instead? — 'Yes, at your cost' is the right answer.
5. May my inspector be present at sampling and weighing? — Any resistance is decisive.
6. Will you provide a retained sample? — Standard practice; refusal is not.

On the transaction

1. Which bank account receives payment, and is it in your registered company name? — A third-party or personal account ends the discussion.
2. What is the settlement basis: origin assay or destination outturn? — Both exist commercially; ambiguity does not.
3. What Incoterms apply, and who bears risk at each stage?
4. Who insures the consignment, for what value, and is my interest noted?
5. What is the dispute mechanism if the destination assay disagrees with the origin assay?
6. Are there any fees payable before delivery, to anyone, for any reason? — The only safe answer is no.

On the record

1. Describe your last completed shipment: carrier, destination, consignee type, laboratory, settlement mechanism. — Detail is difficult to invent under follow-up.
2. Which advocate or law firm represents you in your jurisdiction?
3. Will you complete our KYC pack, including source-of-funds questions? — A supplier who resists KYC on themselves has not applied it to their own supply.

None of these questions is aggressive. A professional counterparty expects all of them and has the answers to hand, because they ask the same questions of the buyers they deal with. Discomfort in the face of routine diligence is itself the finding.