Gold — The Monetary Metal

Gold in the DRC

The DRC is a significant gold producer, with the Kibali mine in Haut-Uele Province standing as Africa's largest gold operation, producing approximately 700,000 ounces annually. Operated by Barrick Gold and AngloGold Ashanti, Kibali is located in northeast DRC — distant from the Lobito Corridor route but emblematic of the DRC's mineral wealth.

Gold is also produced as a by-product at Kansanshi in Zambia. Artisanal gold mining is widespread in eastern DRC, with an estimated 8-12 million ounces produced annually through informal channels — much of it smuggled out of the country, depriving the DRC of substantial revenue. Armed groups in North and South Kivu provinces finance operations through gold trade, making DRC gold one of the most challenging conflict mineral supply chains.

Kibali: Africa's Largest Gold Mine

The Kibali gold mine, operated by Barrick Gold in partnership with AngloGold Ashanti, is the largest gold mine in Africa and one of the ten largest globally. Located in the Haut-Uele province of northeastern DRC, Kibali produced approximately 700,000 ounces of gold in 2024. While geographically distant from the southern Copperbelt corridor route, Kibali's contribution to DRC mineral output and government revenue connects it to the broader corridor ecosystem.

Artisanal Gold Mining in the DRC

Artisanal gold mining in the DRC is far more widespread than industrial operations, with an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 artisanal gold miners across multiple provinces. Artisanal gold is the most significant conflict mineral in eastern DRC: gold is easily concealed, easily transported, and commands universal value, making it the preferred mineral for armed group financing. UN Group of Experts reports have repeatedly documented the links between artisanal gold mining, armed groups, and cross-border smuggling through Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda.

Gold's portability means it often bypasses formal export channels entirely. Significant volumes of DRC artisanal gold are smuggled to neighbouring countries where they enter international markets without traceability. This informal trade deprives the DRC government of revenue and makes supply chain due diligence extremely difficult. The corridor's formal logistics infrastructure does not currently handle significant gold volumes, but any expansion of formalised gold trading could create new freight demand.

Gold Price and Investment Dynamics

Gold prices reached all-time highs in 2024-2025, surpassing $2,700 per ounce, driven by central bank purchasing (particularly by China, India, and emerging market central banks), geopolitical uncertainty, and expectations of monetary policy easing. High gold prices incentivise both industrial and artisanal mining investment in the DRC.

For the corridor, gold's significance is primarily indirect: gold mining contributes to DRC government revenue, which influences infrastructure investment and regulatory capacity. Gold's conflict mineral dimensions shape the broader regulatory environment for all DRC minerals. And gold's ESG challenges — particularly in artisanal mining — provide context for understanding the human rights issues that our watchdog programme monitors.

Regulatory Framework

Gold is the most heavily regulated of the 3TG conflict minerals due to its role in conflict financing. The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation, Dodd-Frank Section 1502, and OECD guidance all require gold supply chain due diligence. The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Responsible Gold Guidance provides the refinery-level standard that most international gold buyers require. DRC-sourced gold that cannot demonstrate conflict-free provenance is effectively excluded from formal international markets — driving it into informal channels where no oversight exists.

Gold and DRC Revenue Transparency

Gold represents the DRC's most significant mineral revenue transparency gap. While industrial gold production from Kibali and other formal operations is well-documented, artisanal gold production and its associated revenue flows are largely opaque. Estimates suggest that $1-3 billion in artisanal gold leaves the DRC annually through informal channels, representing lost government revenue, lost community benefit, and ongoing conflict financing.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and our transparency monitoring programme track formal gold revenue flows. However, the informal sector remains largely beyond effective monitoring. Addressing this gap requires not just logistics infrastructure but governance reform, artisanal mining formalisation, and enforcement capacity that goes beyond the corridor's direct scope — but that the corridor's governance standards and international attention can help catalyse.

Gold Mining Environmental Impact

Artisanal gold mining in the DRC presents severe environmental challenges. Mercury amalgamation — the most common processing technique used by artisanal gold miners — releases mercury into waterways and soil, creating long-term health hazards for mining communities. The Minamata Convention on Mercury, which the DRC has signed, requires countries to reduce and eliminate mercury use in artisanal gold mining. Compliance has been minimal.

Industrial gold mining at Kibali involves large-scale open pit and underground operations with associated waste rock, tailings, and water management challenges. Barrick's environmental management at Kibali is subject to IFC Performance Standards and the company's own sustainability frameworks. Our watchdog programme monitors compliance with these standards and documents any environmental incidents.

Gold and Central Bank Reserves

Central bank gold purchases have surged since 2022, with net purchases exceeding 1,000 tonnes annually — a pace not seen in decades. The People's Bank of China, Reserve Bank of India, Central Bank of Turkey, and numerous emerging market central banks have been systematic buyers, driven by geopolitical diversification away from US dollar reserves following the freezing of Russian foreign exchange reserves in 2022.

This central bank demand provides a structural floor under gold prices that supports mining investment, including in the DRC. For the corridor ecosystem, sustained high gold prices increase DRC government revenue (through royalties and taxes on Kibali and other operations), improve the country's fiscal position, and potentially free up resources for infrastructure co-investment. Gold's monetary role thus indirectly supports the financial and political conditions under which corridor development proceeds.

Gold Smuggling and Corridor Governance

DRC gold smuggling represents a governance challenge that the corridor model must address for other minerals. Estimates suggest that 95% or more of DRC artisanal gold leaves the country through informal channels — primarily through Uganda, where it enters the formal international gold market through Kampala's gold refineries. This represents billions in lost revenue and demonstrates the consequences of inadequate mineral traceability infrastructure.

The corridor's investment in traceability systems — physical monitoring, source verification, certified export channels — for copper and cobalt creates infrastructure potentially applicable to gold if political will exists to formalise and track gold exports. The lesson from gold smuggling is clear: without effective traceability and governance, mineral wealth benefits intermediaries rather than producing countries and communities.

Gold Technology Applications

Beyond jewellery and monetary reserves, gold has growing technology applications that drive industrial demand. Gold's exceptional electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance make it essential for connector plating in electronics — every smartphone, computer, and electric vehicle contains small amounts of gold in circuit board connectors. Gold nanoparticles have medical applications in diagnostic testing and cancer therapy. Gold catalysts are used in chemical manufacturing and pollution control.

These technology applications consume approximately 7-8% of global gold supply and are growing with electronics production and medical technology advancement. For the DRC, technology gold demand adds to investment and jewellery demand in supporting gold prices that incentivise both industrial and artisanal mining. The corridor's relationship to gold is indirect but real: gold supports DRC government revenue, shapes the country's mining governance, and provides context for understanding the critical mineral supply chains that the corridor serves.

Related Pages

Corridor mines: Kibali · Kansanshi (by-product)

Key companies: Barrick Gold

Related minerals: Copper (co-produced at Kansanshi) · Tantalum · Tin · Tungsten (co-designated 3TG)

Countries: DR Congo · Zambia · Angola