In the shadowy global gold industry, where terrorists, drug dealers and dictators launder illegally mined gold into the mainstream market, one major supplier says buyers can count on its product to be clean and ethically sourced.
The Royal Canadian Mint says it can trace all of its gold back to its origins, with cutting-edge technologies including a Bitcoin-like software it calls Bullion Genesis. The Mint, which is backed by the Canadian government, assures buyers that it does not refine gold linked to “illegitimate nonstate armed groups.”
“It’s all North American, predominantly Canada,” the Mint’s refining chief, Rob Sargent, said in an interview.
But what the Canadians call North American includes gold from a swirl of faraway sources — including Colombian mines controlled by the Clan del Golfo drug cartel.
