PeaceGold, SigraFi sign responsible artisanal gold supply deal in DRC 

UK-headquartered gold sourcing and offtake company SigraFi announced Thursday it signed an agreement with PeaceGold Trading for a long-term artisanal gold supply and growth-capital partnership in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

PeaceGold was set up in 2013 with the local nonprofit Conflict Resolution Center to help formalize artisanal mining and reintegrate former combatants into regulated work, including gold mining, as a way to reduce conflict. 

The project is currently working with around 11 artisanal mining cooperatives in Ituri province, representing nearly 25,000 miners and support workers, and is positioning itself as an alternative to Congo’s largely illicit artisanal gold trade.  

The new agreement establishes a commercial framework under which SigraFi will provide structured working capital and refinery-delivery support in exchange for a contracted supply of fully traceable gold doré sourced from cooperative-based producers in Ituri Province for delivery into accredited international refining channels. 

The partnership combines SigraFi’s compliant sourcing, logistics coordination, refinery access, and capital structuring capabilities with PeaceGold’s long-standing work supporting the formalisation of artisanal gold production in eastern DRC, the company said.  

PeaceGold works with mining communities in eastern DRC alongside UK-based charity Peace Direct and Centre Résolution Conflits, to support the legalisation of artisanal gold mining operations, reduce the use of mercury in gold processing, and establish compliant export pathways for producers. 

Under the framework, SigraFi will support the scaling of supply operations through a revolving working capital facility linked to future contracted gold deliveries.  

The structure is intended to provide producers with reliable routes to market, improved pricing transparency, and access to international refining infrastructure while enabling SigraFi and its counterparties to access vetted and traceable artisanal gold supply, it said.  

Artisanal and small-scale mining now produces an estimated 20% of the world’s gold (up from 4% in the 1990s) and is worth an estimated $100 billion annually at current prices, supporting the livelihoods of more than 15 million people worldwide. Yet much of the sector operates outside formal international supply chains, constrained by compliance, financing and infrastructure barriers. 

“Everyone knows the potential within the artisanal and small-scale gold sector, but producers are often constrained by limited access to compliant export channels, refinery relationships, and appropriately structured financing, and that’s where we come in, SigraFi director of strategy Zara Shirwan said in a news release. 

“We facilitate responsible operators to participate more effectively in the international gold market through long-term commercial partnerships.” 

“By making capital available to community-based operations in fragile economies, SigraFi is leading the way in returning value back into the hands of the communities that create it,” PeaceGold Founder Greg Valerio said.