The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) is tightening its gold purity verification regime, making X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) testing the definitive basis for pricing and payment for locally purchased gold doré from October 1, 2026.
Under the new rules, GoldBod and its licensed buyers will rely on XRF assay results to determine the purity, price and payment value of gold purchased locally.
GoldBod, in a press release dated September 28, said the Water Density method would no longer be accepted as the final basis for determining payment.
The method would instead serve only as an indicative assessment of gold purity.
GoldBod, however, said exceptions would apply where a licensed buyer is genuinely unable to use XRF due to operational or logistical constraints, or where both the buyer and seller voluntarily agree to use the Water Density method.
In such cases, the gold doré would be purchased at a 0.7 per cent purity discount based on the Water Density assessment.
The new regime also introduces a tolerance limit for differences between successive XRF assay results for the same gold or transaction.
GoldBod said the permissible difference between two XRF reports must remain within plus or minus 0.1 per cent.
Any variation beyond that threshold would have to undergo further verification before the transaction could be completed or reported to GoldBod.
The GoldBod Compliance Directorate has directed all aggregators and licensed gold buyers to put the necessary systems in place ahead of the October 1 implementation date.
It warned that failure to comply with the new requirements would constitute a breach of the terms and conditions attached to the relevant licences.
Such breaches, it said, could attract regulatory or enforcement action under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140).
The notice forms part of the licensing conditions governing aggregators and licensed gold buyers operating under GoldBod.
