Mineral due diligence and inspection across Africa

Nairank Global is an independent mineral inspection, testing and due diligence firm operating across Africa. Inspection, sampling, laboratory testing, assaying and due diligence for producers, traders, refiners, smelters, financiers and international buyers. Our inspectors and assay specialists work at source from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, the DR Congo, Ghana and Sierra Leone, and report to the client alone.

Engagements scoped within one working day · Strictly confidential · Message the desk

Request an Inspection Request Due Diligence

Records we check at source

BRELA
BRS
URSB
PACRA
RCCM
ORC Ghana
CAC
CIPC
Mining Cadastres
ICGLR

Nairank Global inspector presenting a sealed sample and inspection report to international clients at a mine site

What most buyers never check

Most inspections start after the contract is signed. By then, your money is already committed.

Inspection firms usually arrive at loading — once the SPA is signed and the payment instrument is open. The questions that decide whether you ever see your money again come earlier: does the seller exist, are they licensed, and do they actually hold the goods?

Before you sign, ask

Has anyone checked this seller — not the cargo — against the official record?

If the answer is a document the seller sent you, nobody has.

Nairank Global works at the start of the deal. We confirm the company, the licence, the authority to sell and the goods themselves — at source, before you commit.

Verify a seller before you sign

Practice areas

Each mandate is scoped to the transaction — from a single assay or document check to full inspection, laboratory testing and due diligence on a supplier and its lot.

Nairank Global analysts reviewing supplier registry and licence records

Independent standard

The Nairank Global Standard

The Nairank Global Standard (NGS) is Nairank Global’s due diligence framework for assessing mineral suppliers, their lots and their documents before a client commits money.

About the standard

01
The counterparty
Who you are dealing with, and whether they are who they say they are.
02
The material
Whether the lot exists, and what it is — confirmed at source and, where it matters, by laboratory.
03
The paperwork
Whether the documents behind the deal stand up.

Results and reports

Results are stated in international terms. Every engagement ends in a report: an NGS assessment report for a supplier, an independent inspection report for a lot.

Inspection and testing

Conforming · Not conforming to the agreed specification. Gold fineness is stated against LBMA standards and copper cathode against LME Grade A / ASTM B115, with the method named and every result in its units.

Due diligence

Proceed · Proceed on conditions · Do not proceed. The supplier’s risk is rated Low, Medium or High against the OECD red flags, and the report closes with a written recommendation, with any conditions drafted for the contract.

Assessed under the Nairank Global Standard

The supplier was assessed against the Nairank Global Standard, and the findings are set out in an NGS assessment report. Refers to the report and its date, and can be confirmed on our document verification page.

Independent inspection report

A specific lot was inspected, sampled and sealed by Nairank Global, with the laboratory result and seal numbers recorded. Identifies the lot, its seals and the laboratory that analysed it.

NGS assessment reports and independent inspection reports are issued by Nairank Global Limited, and any of them can be confirmed through Nairank Global’s document verification service. Standards and quality.

Clients

Buyers committing capital, sellers establishing provenance, refiners accepting material, and the lenders and investors behind them.

Gold doré bar on a precision balance beside a tamper-evident security bag

Buyers

Independent evidence on the supplier, the licence and the lot before capital is committed or anyone travels.

Gold nuggets and gold dust beside a touchstone with test streaks

Sellers

An independent test record — readings, weights, seals and photographs — that establishes what a lot is.

Fire-assay cupels with gold prills in a muffle furnace

Refiners & dealers

Assay of doré, bars, nuggets and scrap at the point of collection, before material is accepted.

Finance team reviewing a Nairank Global inspection report

Lenders & investors

Field verification of a counterparty, a mine or a stockpile before funds are advanced.

Why clients choose us

Four principles govern every mandate, whatever its size.

Evidence at source

Findings rest on registry records, our own inspection and accredited laboratory results — never on documents supplied by the counterparty.

Fixed, outcome-neutral fees

Terms are agreed before work begins and do not depend on whether the transaction proceeds.

Presence on the ground

Standing field teams in seven African countries, deployed anywhere on the continent the material requires.

Confidentiality

Mandates are confidential and reports go to the client alone. We confirm a report’s authenticity to third parties only through our document verification service.

Engagement process

Three stages from mandate to findings, each approved by the client before the next begins.

STEP 01
Mandate
You brief us on the counterparty, the offer and the location of the material, and share the documents you hold. Everything is received in confidence.
STEP 02
Scope and terms
Within one working day we return a scope, a timetable and terms, matched to the size and risk of the transaction. No work begins until you approve it.
STEP 03
Findings
A written report with every finding and the evidence behind it, and our recommendation with any conditions written out.

Field presence

Our inspectors and assay specialists are based in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, the DR Congo, Ghana and Sierra Leone, and attend the material wherever it is kept — mine, dealer, vault, bonded warehouse or port. When the lot is held elsewhere in Africa, a team deploys to it with XRF analysers and field assay equipment. Evidence is gathered where the material is, not from a desk.

Based in

Tanzania
Kenya
Uganda
Zambia
DR Congo
Ghana
Sierra Leone

Deployed to, for example

Nigeria
Côte d’Ivoire
Guinea
Mali
Rwanda
Zimbabwe
Mozambique
South Africa
Anywhere in Africa

Gold testing by city

Supplier due diligence by country

Specialist network

Mandates draw on licensed counsel, geologists, assay and laboratory specialists, mining practitioners and trade specialists, engaged as each transaction requires.

Testers

Our own gold and mineral testers, equipped with XRF analysers and acid and density test kits.

Geologists

To read a deposit, a mine and its output — and to judge whether the story matches the ground.

Lawyers

Licensed counsel for contracts, licences and the formal legal advice on a transaction.

Miners

People who work the mines and know how material is really produced, moved and sold.

Industry professionals

Traders, refiners, inspectors and logistics specialists across the mineral trade.

Legal partners

Nairank Global works alongside these independent law firms, so the legal side of a transaction — contracts, licences and regulatory questions — is handled by qualified counsel.

Buyer guides

All guides

Questions buyers ask

How do I verify a gold supplier in Africa?

Check the company and its mining or dealer licence at the official registry, then have the gold itself tested where it is held before any money moves. Nairank Global does both: we confirm registration, licences, ownership and authority to sell at source, and our testers examine and seal the lot with XRF, acid and density tests, with fire assay at an accredited laboratory where settlement depends on it.

How much does supplier due diligence cost?

The fee depends on the country, the number of parties and whether a site visit or testing is needed, so it is quoted per engagement. Send us the supplier and the transaction and we return a fixed fee, a scope and a timetable within one working day. Scoping carries no charge, and the fee never depends on the outcome.

How long does a gold assay take?

XRF, acid and density results are given the same day, on site; testing takes minutes per piece. Fire assay at an accredited laboratory takes 3–5 business days after the sealed sample reaches the lab.

Can you inspect a warehouse in Dar es Salaam?

Yes. Nairank Global has a standing field team in Tanzania and inspects warehouses, vaults and bonded stores in Dar es Salaam, as well as mine sites in Geita, Mwanza and elsewhere. We confirm the material exists, count and weigh it, take and seal samples, and photograph everything for the report.

Which countries do you work in?

We have field teams in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, the DR Congo, Ghana and Sierra Leone, and deploy from there anywhere in Africa where the material or the counterparty is.

Do you buy or sell minerals?

No. Nairank Global only inspects, tests and verifies. We have no stake in any deal, our fee never depends on the outcome, and we report to the client who commissions us, which is what keeps the findings independent.

What does an inspection result look like?

Each result is stated as conforming or not conforming to the agreed specification — gold fineness against LBMA standards, copper cathode against LME Grade A / ASTM B115 — with the method named and every reading in its units. No proprietary scores or grades are used.

Can I have the gold tested before I pay?

Yes, and that is when it should be done. Our tester examines and seals the lot where it is held and you receive the readings before any payment is released.

Inspection notes, market updates and new locations — follow Nairank Global.

Commission an independent assessment

Brief us on the counterparty or the lot. We return a scope, a timetable and terms within one working day, in confidence.

Commission a Verification Contact the Inspection & Assurance Desk