Conflict-Tainted Venezuelan Gold Entered World Market Through Caribbean Island, Documents Indicate

An OCCRP investigation scrutinizes Argor-Heraeus’s gold sourcing via Curaçao, contrasting the refiner’s and an independent expert’s claims of recycled scrap gold with academic reviews of laboratory data suggesting a mix that likely includes mined gold. The report highlights LBMA’s Good Delivery standards and OECD guidance, noting a key loophole that subjects mined gold to stringent due diligence while treating recycled gold as lower risk, enabling mislabeling and potentially obscuring origins from high-risk regions such as Venezuela.