(Business in Cameroon) - In addition to guaranteeing the traceability of rough uncut diamonds produced in Cameroon, the Permanent Secretariat in charge of monitoring the Kimberly Process in the process, just received from the Cameroonian government the mission of also ensuring the traceability of the gold produced locally. The news was revealed during a meeting organised from 15 to 17 September 2016 in Bertoua, capital of the Eastern region, the most rich in ore in the country.

This decision from the Cameroonian authorities, we learned, should help in moving Cameroonian gold through formal channels. Indeed, to date, we officially learned, approximately 80% of the 100kg of gold produced in the country every year is sold to smugglers.

Additionally, mining operators, in order to reduce the volumes of taxes to be paid to the public Treasury, adopt various ploys to conceal the real quantities produced. This cover up, according to different reports, is done through “nocturnal gold panning” implemented by some mining companies, operations at the end of which the gold under the cover of night is sent to unknown destinations.

Following the discovery in July by a mining squad in the town of Ndokayo, in the Eastern region, some light has been shed on how the mining operators to move their cargo of undeclared gold. Indeed, at this checkpoint, members of the mining squad found little bags holding gold, hidden inside domestic gas cylinders.

BRM