Independent mineral inspection, testing and due diligence 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 Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, the DR Congo, Ghana, Senegal and Sierra Leone, and report to the client alone.

    Engagements scoped within 24 hours · Strictly confidential · Message the desk
    Request an InspectionRequest 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
    01

    Supplier Due Diligence

    Company registration, beneficial owners, mining and export licences, and the supplier’s authority to sell the lot — checked with the registries and authorities that issued them.
    Due diligence in detail
    Handheld XRF analyser beside gold doré bars and a calibrated scale
    02

    Gold Testing & Assay

    Every piece examined by XRF, acid and density where the gold is held, then weighed, sealed and sampled; melts witnessed; fire assay by an accredited laboratory, certificate addressed to you.
    Gold testing in detail
    Sealed sample bags with numbered tamper-evident seal tags
    03

    Mine & Warehouse Inspection

    We go to the mine, warehouse or stockyard for you: quantity, packing, lot marks and brand checked, with dated photos and video taken by our own inspector.
    Inspection in detail
    Assay certificate and export documents checked against the issuer
    04

    Document Authentication

    Assay certificates, export permits, certificates of origin and vault receipts taken back to their issuers, on contact details we source ourselves, and matched to the lot.
    Document checks in detail
    Counterparty screening against sanctions and court records
    05

    Counterparty Screening

    The company, its directors and owners checked against sanctions lists, PEP databases, court records and the press, and the receiving bank account reviewed.
    Screening in detail
    Contract terms reviewed against inspection findings
    06

    Negotiation & Contract Review

    Contract terms negotiated and the draft agreement read against our findings before you sign, with formal advice from licensed counsel where required.
    Contract review in detail
    See all 13 services, each explained in full

    Independent standard

    The Nairank Global Standard

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

    About the standard
    1. 01

      The counterparty

      Who you are dealing with, and whether they are who they say they are.

    2. 02

      The material

      Whether the lot exists, and what it is — confirmed at source and, where it matters, by laboratory.

    3. 03

      The paperwork

      Whether the documents behind the deal stand up.

    Results and certificates

    Results are stated the way international inspection bodies state them. Suppliers and lots that meet the standard in full may carry a Nairank Global certificate.

    01

    Inspection and testing

    Conforms to specification · Does not conform · Not determined. Stated against the international or contract specification that applies — for example LME Grade A for copper cathode or LBMA Good Delivery for gold bars — with the method named and every result in its units.
    02

    Due diligence

    Proceed · Proceed on stated conditions · Do not proceed on current terms. A written recommendation based on the findings, with any conditions drafted for the contract.
    03

    Nairank Global Certified

    The supplier was assessed in full against the Nairank Global Standard, with no outstanding findings, at the date of the report. Valid for twelve months from the report date, and confirmable on our document verification page.
    04

    Nairank Global Inspection Certificate

    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.

    Nairank Global marks are issued by Nairank Global Limited under the Nairank Global Standard, 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
    01

    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
    02

    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
    03

    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
    04

    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.

    01

    Evidence at source

    Findings rest on registry records, our own inspection and accredited laboratory results — never on documents supplied by the counterparty.
    02

    Fixed, outcome-neutral fees

    Terms are agreed before work begins and do not depend on whether the transaction proceeds.
    03

    Presence on the ground

    Standing field teams in eight African countries, deployed anywhere on the continent the material requires.
    04

    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.

    1. 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.

    2. STEP 02

      Scope and terms

      Within 24 hours we return a scope, a timetable and terms, matched to the size and risk of the transaction. No work begins until you approve it.

    3. 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 Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, the DR Congo, Ghana, Senegal 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

    • Kenya
    • Uganda
    • Tanzania
    • Zambia
    • DR Congo
    • Ghana
    • Senegal
    • 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.

    01

    Testers

    Our own gold and mineral testers, equipped with XRF analysers and acid and density test kits.
    02

    Geologists

    To read a deposit, a mine and its output — and to judge whether the story matches the ground.
    03

    Lawyers

    Licensed counsel for contracts, licences and the formal legal advice on a transaction.
    04

    Miners

    People who work the mines and know how material is really produced, moved and sold.
    05

    Industry professionals

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

    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 24 hours. Scoping carries no charge, and the fee never depends on the outcome.

    How long does a gold assay take?

    On-site testing takes minutes per piece and the readings are reported the same day. A fire assay depends on the accredited laboratory’s schedule once the sealed sample arrives; we confirm the expected date in the scope before work starts.

    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 Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, the DR Congo, Ghana, Senegal 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 conforms to specification, does not conform, or not determined, against the contract or international specification, with the method named and every reading in its units. There are no scores or grades.

    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 24 hours, in confidence.

    Commission a VerificationContact the Inspection & Assurance Desk