(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon's national mining company (Sonamines) announced a plan to tackle gold smuggling based on the models used in Namibia and DR Congo.

The company said it has already sent a delegation to Namibia last May and another team is currently in DR Congo. In the latter country, the Cameroonian delegation visited the Center for Expertise, Evaluation, and Certification of Precious and Semi-precious Minerals (Ceeac), which is responsible for analyzing and determining the content of mining substances and awarding a certificate attesting to their origin and their legal and licit source. This approach helps ensure the traceability of the substances. "It was an opportunity to gather valuable information that will be capitalized to limit the fraudulent export of Cameroonian gold," the delegation said.

The Sonamines team also visited the Congolese Technical Coordination and Mining Planning Unit, housed in the Ministry of Mines. On this occasion, Hervé Boyogueno, the Head of the Cameroonian company, was granted a copy of the country's Mining Code.

Sonamines was created on December 14, 2020, by presidential decree. Its mission is to carry out the inventory of mining indexes in close partnership with other administrations and competent bodies, conduct the exploration and exploitation of mineral substances, and ensure the implementation of measures relating to the restoration, rehabilitation, and closure of mining sites. The company was created with an initial budget of CFA10 billion.

S.A.