What we do in Uganda

Uganda has built a small domestic refining sector over the past decade, and in 2026 the Bank of Uganda began buying locally mined gold for its reserves. That has changed what buyers and refiners need from an independent tester: more lots are refined in the country, and more of the gold entering refineries comes from artisanal miners and licensed dealers whose output has to be checked.

For refineries

  • Incoming-lot testing at collection — XRF, density and acid tests, weighing and sealing, before the gold is accepted.
  • Witnessed melts — our tester present at the melt, with weights before and after and the assay sample taken from the melt.
  • Supplier checks on dealers and miners — company record, licence, source and screening — to support a refinery’s due diligence under the OECD Guidance.
  • Independent check assays — a split sample to a second accredited laboratory, to confirm the refinery’s own results.

For buyers of Ugandan gold

  • Testing the gold before payment, wherever it is held.
  • Checking the seller — URSB record, mineral dealer’s licence, authority to sell.
  • Checking the refinery’s paperwork — refinery licence, the assay certificate and the export documents, each confirmed with the issuer.

Uganda’s gold refining and the central bank programme

Uganda’s first gold refinery opened in Entebbe in February 2017, with an initial capacity of about 300 kg of gold a week, reported The EastAfrican at the time. Euro Gold Refinery received its refinery licence in June 2024 and was opened in Kampala in July 2025 as Uganda’s third licensed gold refinery (Pulse Uganda). In April 2026 it was contracted to refine gold for the Bank of Uganda’s domestic gold purchase programme, which plans to buy 7 to 10 tonnes of locally mined gold a year.

We describe these as facts about the market, not as recommendations. Any refinery a client works with is checked on its own merits — licence, ownership, certificates and screening — as set out in gold refineries in Uganda.

Checking a Ugandan gold seller

  1. Company record at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), against the people you are dealing with.
  2. Licence — mineral dealer’s or mining licence under the Mining and Minerals Act 2022, confirmed with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development: holder, type and validity.
  3. Source — where the gold was mined, and for gold from outside Uganda, the import and origin documents.
  4. The gold — tested, weighed and sealed by our tester; fire assay at an accredited laboratory.
  5. Screening — sanctions, adverse media and litigation on the company, its directors and the receiving bank account.

Where we work in Uganda

Kampala and Entebbe are where refineries, dealers and vaults are, and where most of our testing happens. Our testers also travel to the mining areas — Mubende, Busia, Buhweju and the Karamoja districts — to see a mine or a buying point before a lot moves. Visits outside Kampala are scheduled with you.

How we test gold in Uganda

Our testers combine XRF, density and acid tests on site and take a representative sample by drilling or melting for fire assay at an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory. For refinery work, a split of the same sample can go to a second laboratory so the two results can be compared. The methods are explained in gold testing methods compared.

Supplier checks for refineries, in detail

Under the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, a refinery is expected to know each supplier and to assess the risk in its supply chain. For each dealer or miner supplying a refinery, we can confirm:

  • the company or individual, and the people who own and run it;
  • the mining or dealer’s licence, its holder, type and validity;
  • where the gold is mined, with a site visit where needed;
  • how the gold reaches the refinery, and who handles it on the way;
  • sanctions, adverse-media and litigation screening on the supplier and its owners.

The findings are written up supplier by supplier, so they can sit in the refinery’s own due diligence file.

What you receive

  • A written report sent to you directly, the same day for on-site results
  • Every reading, weight and seal number, with dated photos and video
  • Registry and licence findings, each with the source checked
  • The laboratory certificate in your name where an assay was done
  • For refineries: a supplier-by-supplier file and incoming-lot test records