The World Gold Council has put a number on one of the commodities market’s worst-kept secrets: illicit gold flows have ballooned past $120 billion a year. That figure, cited by WGC CEO David Tait, represents a smuggling operation roughly the size of Morocco’s entire economic output.
The crisis is centered on artisanal and small-scale gold mining, known as ASGM, which accounts for approximately 20% of global gold supply and employs somewhere between 15 and 20 million people worldwide.
Where the gold goes
Small-scale miners, often in conflict-ridden regions like Sudan and Mali, extract gold that gets funneled through a network of middlemen before arriving at major trading hubs. The UAE has been identified as a key waypoint in these trade routes. By the time the metal reaches a refinery, its provenance has been scrubbed enough to pass cursory checks.
Tait has drawn a direct line between these flows and some of the world’s most dangerous actors. Organized crime syndicates, armed groups, and terrorism financiers all benefit from the opacity of the ASGM supply chain.
