Bar security features, blockchain passports and geoforensic science for gold provenance.

The industry’s bar-integrity infrastructure: the database went live in January 2025 on aXedras DLT, with AAP submissions from March 2026, voluntary monthly country-of-origin reporting from April 2026, custodians onboarding by December 2026 and mandatory monthly CoO in 2027. The database is industry-confidential, not a public registry.

"100% of Good Delivery refiners using it by start-2026" is LBMA’s own claim; scope is uploading assurance deliverables.

Zug-based DLT bullion ledger built on R3 Corda; appointed GBI database provider in March 2024 and an LBMA affiliate since February 2025. Its xTrace product carried the December 2025 fully traceable deliveries from Soleil Metals to Argor-Heraeus.

Strongly corroborated for the GBI role; other product claims are the vendor’s own.

Optical AI fingerprinting that identifies bars without marking, using surface micro-features. Selected by LBMA for the GBI programme in February 2023 and deployed with Argor-Heraeus in 2023.

High-security ink plus QR marking, recognised by LBMA as a bar security feature and used with Metalor. SICPA states that 400,000+ kilobars have been marked.

Marking count per SICPA, undated and unaudited.

The refiner’s blockchain-backed single-origin bar line, with QR-engraved cast bars from 1 January 2025.

Vendor-described; per MKS PAMP, unaudited.

Two refiner product lines launched 20 May 2025: "Small Craft" (ASM-accredited gold) and "Origin Traced" (LSM), both with DLT records.

Vendor-described; per Argor-Heraeus, unaudited.

Blockchain product passports. A June 2024 partnership with Society Artisanal covers digital product passports for DRC artisanal gold; in March 2025 the partners announced an export of third-party-validated conflict-free Fizi gold to L’Orfebre. Minespider’s 2025-26 news skews to batteries.

The Fizi export claim is single-source party PR.

Traceability plus payments, with a Rwanda/DRC/Ghana lineage and the first blockchain-traced Ghana gold export with Solidaridad in 2022. Its 2025-26 announcements skew to cobalt and nickel; current gold activity is unclear.

Science-based origin verification: the Metalor + University of Lausanne "geoforensic passport" (XRF, lead-isotope, then LA-ICP-MS, deployed at Metalor since about 2016), BGR’s Analytical Fingerprint (3T-focused) and a UMAP refined-gold source study (Scientific Reports, 2025).

Ghana’s state system in procurement: track-and-trace of "every gram" of ASM gold is targeted for end-2026, a timeline that has already slipped once. An expression of interest drew 27 bidders (deadline 17 April 2026) and technical evaluation was under way as of April 2026; no vendor has been awarded.

Chain-of-custody platform; a GBI pilot vendor in 2022 (not selected for the database) with a PAMP API integration in 2018. Its current focus is Canadian critical minerals.

Corroborated for the pilot history; current gold role not evidenced.

Consumer-facing traceability for Fairmined jewellery: an engraved code plus a QR panel.

Scheme-described; per Fairmined/ARM.

Supply-chain mapping software with a Responsible Minerals Platform covering 3TG including gold, plus EU TRACES and SAP integrations in 2025.

Corroborated for operating; the gold-specific reach is per Sourcemap only.

Context record: the platform went through administration and liquidation in 2023, then relaunched at about 16 staff under its founder. No visible gold work since.

Digital due-diligence and supply-intelligence platform for ASM gold ("The Digital Backbone for Ethical Gold"), operated by Mwamba Mining on Datastake infrastructure. It records trade relationships and real-time material-flow maps, screens counterparties against OECD Annex II and ESG criteria with improvement plans, and produces audit-ready reports aligned to LBMA, RMAP and OECD; it integrates KoboToolbox for field data. Mwamba is a Tanzania (Geita District) mercury-free ASGM social enterprise, founded 2018, whose integrated extraction-processing plant at Buziba was highlighted in a World Gold Council report.

Platform metrics per Mwamba/Datastake, unaudited; Mwamba’s mercury-free operation is corroborated by a World Gold Council report.

The expert-assessment platform of the Swiss Better Gold Initiative ("Responsible gold, on the record"), operated by the Swiss Better Gold Association (SBGA) on Datastake infrastructure. ASM gold producers in Peru and Colombia are onboarded, evaluated against 27 governance, social and environmental criteria by field experts ("evaluations are made by people, not algorithms"), given improvement plans and monitored through field reports, photographs and documents; the field work is carried out by local implementing partners in Peru and Colombia. Digital counterpart to the Swiss Better Gold market-access record.

Platform scope per SBGA/Datastake; the SBG programme itself is corroborated elsewhere in the hub.

Investment and capacity-building platform for ASM gold ("Demonstrate positive impact. Unlock investment."; kustawi is Swahili for "to prosper"), developed by The Impact Facility on Datastake infrastructure. Operators build a profile, undergo continuous ESG evaluation and report monthly gold production; those demonstrating responsible practice can apply for equipment investment. Piloted in Migori, Kenya, and designed to be replicable across countries and value chains; supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and Solidaridad. Extends The Impact Facility’s Lake Victoria programme.

Platform scope per The Impact Facility/Datastake; The Impact Facility and Solidaridad are corroborated elsewhere in the hub.