MONROVIA – The Ministry of Mines and Energy has activated a gold traceability training program intended to strengthen Liberia’s artisanal mining sector, improve accountability and track gold from its point of production through trading and export. Conducted through the Office of Precious Minerals, the initiative brought licensed dealers and brokers under a common documentation framework designed to curb illicit transactions and promote responsible sourcing. The system could help Liberia recover lost revenue and improve confidence in its mineral industry, but its success will depend upon more than properly completed forms. As THE ANALYST reports, pundits contend that Government must verify declared transactions, police smuggling routes and enforce the same requirements against small brokers, powerful dealers and politically connected operators.
Dealers, Brokers Trained
The two-part training sessions were held separately on August 12 and 14, 2026, at the Ministry’s central office in Monrovia. Two groups of licensed gold dealers and brokers participated in the exercise, which centered on the correct use of official gold traceability forms.
The training forms part of the Ministry’s broader efforts to formalize Liberia’s gold trade, improve documentation and record-keeping and reduce illicit mineral transactions. It is also intended to strengthen confidence in the country’s mineral industry by ensuring that gold entering the market can be linked to a legitimate source.
Opening the dealers’ session, Assistant Mines Minister Sumo Momolu reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to sanitizing the mineral sector. He said gold traded in Liberia must be properly accounted for from the point of production until it reaches the export market.
Liberia’s artisanal gold sector provides income for thousands of miners, brokers and traders, but informality and weak documentation have historically created openings for smuggling and revenue leakage. A functioning traceability system could help bring those activities under stronger regulatory supervision.
Fallah Explains System
Rebecca Kumba Fallah, Director of the Office of Precious Minerals, delivered a presentation on the importance and use of the gold traceability forms. Her office is directly responsible for mineral trading, exports and implementation of the traceability system.
Fallah emphasized transparency and accountability in gold transactions and urged participants not to treat traceability as a mere regulatory burden. She described the system as an important mechanism for building a credible and internationally trusted gold industry.
At the center of her presentation were the official traceability forms, which she called critical instruments for establishing a reliable chain of custody. Such a chain should make it possible to determine where gold originated, who handled it and whether it moved through legally authorized channels.
Participants were taken through the different stages of documentation. These included production records, purchase and transaction forms or vendor receipts, transportation records, dealers’ identification cards, export documents and other supporting attachments.
Export Documents Outlined
The training placed particular emphasis on documents required for the lawful export of gold. Dealers were informed that exporters must possess valid licences, production and recovery vouchers, transaction receipts and identification documents where applicable.
Exporters must also submit any other records prescribed by the Ministry of Mines and Energy. The documents are expected to demonstrate that the gold was legally produced, purchased and transported before approval is granted for export.
Following Fallah’s presentation, staff of the Office of Precious Minerals conducted practical demonstrations. The exercises were intended to ensure that participants understood the features of the forms and knew how each section should be completed.
OPM personnel stressed the importance of clear handwriting, accurate information, complete entries and proper verification of every transaction. Dealers and brokers were warned that careless or false documentation could undermine the entire traceability system.
Participants were specifically instructed to record the date, weight and location of every gold transaction. They must also provide mining information, identify buyers and sellers and ensure that all required signatures are obtained before submitting the documents.
Brokers Face Added Responsibility
The training placed additional emphasis on brokers because of their strategic position between miners and dealers. Brokers were reminded that they must conduct transactions only with authorized and licensed miners.
They were also instructed to maintain proper records and ensure that every movement of gold is supported by the required documentation. This requirement is intended to prevent illegally produced or smuggled gold from entering the formal supply chain through licensed intermediaries.
The Ministry cautioned dealers and brokers against common documentation errors. These include leaving blank spaces, failing to obtain signatures, recording inaccurate weights, providing inconsistent information and submitting forms late.
Participants were further warned that dealing in minerals outside Liberia’s established legal framework could lead to the seizure of the minerals. Other legal consequences could also follow under Liberian law.
The sessions were interactive, allowing participants to raise questions and seek clarification on difficulties encountered in their daily operations. The discussions enabled the Ministry to reinforce compliance requirements while helping dealers and brokers understand their separate responsibilities.
Documentation Gaps Targeted
The stakeholder engagement comes as Liberia seeks to strengthen governance over its mineral resources. Government says gold produced and traded within the country must be properly documented and traceable.
By placing dealers and brokers under the same traceability framework, the Ministry hopes to close existing documentation gaps. Its stated objective is to build a transparent and accountable gold market in which transactions can be followed, verified and linked to legitimate sources.
The Ministry said the training is part of continuing efforts to formalize the gold sector and improve government oversight. It also expects traceability to support revenue collection, promote responsible sourcing and help Liberia meet national and international transparency standards.
Those objectives are important, but documentation alone cannot eliminate illicit trading. Traceability forms will be worthless if regulators fail to verify the information written on them or ignore discrepancies involving production, purchases, transportation and exports.
Training To Expand
Mining agents will constitute the next group to receive similar training. Their sessions will be conducted at the Ministry’s central office in Monrovia.
Miners will later undergo training at the county level. Extending the program to mining communities is critical because traceability must begin where the gold is extracted—not after it reaches dealers or exporters in Monrovia.
County-level implementation will require trained inspectors, reliable record systems and regular monitoring of mining and trading locations. Government must also ensure that information collected on paper can be cross-checked and securely preserved.
The Ministry should eventually disclose how many dealers, brokers, agents and miners have been trained and how many transactions are being captured by the system. It must also report violations detected, minerals seized and revenue recovered through improved oversight.
The training is a necessary step toward reforming Liberia’s artisanal gold sector, but workshops do not constitute enforcement. The traceability system will earn public confidence only when every ounce of declared gold can be followed from the mining pit to the export point—and when anyone attempting to bypass that chain faces the law, regardless of money, influence or political connection.