GoldBod makes XRF testing the basis for paying for local gold from 1 October

Pinned summary · as of 04:44

Licensed gold buyers in Ghana must pay for gold on the strength of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) tests from 1 October 2026, the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has announced. The board said the older water density method will only give a rough guide to purity. It issued the change in a notice on Monday, 28 September.

What we know

• GoldBod announced a new assay regime for locally bought gold on 28 September, in a notice from its Compliance Directorate, and the rules take effect on 1 October 2026.
• Under the notice, the water density method will no longer decide purity, price or payment for gold bought by GoldBod or its licensed buyers; it will serve only as an indicative reading. GoldBod said the method "will no longer serve as the final basis for determining payment".
• GoldBod named XRF assay as the method that will settle purity and the amount paid for gold doré purchased by the board and its licensed buyers.
• GoldBod said a 0.7% discount will come off the purity found by water density testing whenever that method is still used, either because a buyer genuinely cannot run XRF for operational or logistical reasons or because buyer and seller both opt for it.
• GoldBod told licensed buyers to set a purity deviation limit when they compare successive XRF reports on the same gold or deal, and said results may differ by no more than plus or minus 0.1%. Any larger gap must be verified further before the deal is concluded or reported to the board.
• The board said strict compliance starts on 1 October 2026 and is part of the licence terms of every aggregator and licensed buyer. It warned that failure to comply would breach those terms and could bring regulatory and enforcement steps, citing Act 1140, the Ghana Gold Board Act of 2025. It also told buyers to be fully ready by that date.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The Vaultz News reported that the directive was signed by GoldBod's Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Gyamfi, ESQ. No other report names the signatory.
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  According to The Vaultz News, a deal whose purity gap exceeds plus or minus 0.1% is held back from completion and from formal filing with the board until a separate re-test settles the mismatch. Other reports mention only further verification.
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  The Vaultz News reported that buyers were told to get ready by improving their technical set-up, training the staff who run tests and bringing their own pricing systems into line. The same report said specific gravity measurements can mislead since hollow cores, tungsten alloys or base metals mixed into the gold can skew the reading; this view is the newspaper's own and has not been repeated elsewhere.

Why it matters for Ghana

Small-scale miners and the aggregators who buy their gold are paid according to the purity reading, so the choice of test decides how much money changes hands. Sellers who end up on the water density route, whether because their buyer lacks XRF equipment or because both sides agree to it, will see a 0.7% purity discount applied. Buyers in mining areas have only days to be ready, and those who miss the deadline risk breaching their licences.