Independent precious metals authority the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) has advanced the implementation of its proposals requiring refiners to publicly disclose additional information regarding suppliers of mined material, including from ‘red flag’ locations as defined in the gold supplement of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High Risk Area. 

These increased transparency requirements were scheduled for 2027, but will now, with the support of LBMA-accredited refiners and other gold supply-chain stakeholders, become part of refiners’ compliance reports from next year.

Specifically, as part of LBMA’s Refiner Transparency Roadmap, refiners will continue to disclose the identity and location of suppliers located in high risk areas to LBMA as currently required under Version 9 of the Responsible Gold Guidance.

This information will not be disclosed publicly.

However, from 2026, refiners will publicly disclose the identity of the refiner and local exporter in ‘red flag’ locations as per OECD Guidance; all World Gold Council (WGC) miners and mines from which they receive material; and all locations (countries) from which mined material is received.

These changes will be implemented through an amendment to the Disclosure Guidance which supports good delivery list (GDL) refiners in the implementation of reporting and disclosure requirements.

The LBMA will publicly consult over the coming months, with a view to finalising this process by the end of this year, it says. 

Arrangements for further disclosure going into 2027 will be discussed and agreed with OECD and other stakeholders; however, proposals will include the disclosure of the identity of suppliers, locations (countries) and total volumes of all mined material, and not only those from WGC members.

These disclosures are irrespective of the risk rating of either supplier or location.

The proposal will also include the expectation of the disclosure of all suppliers in high-risk locations as defined in Responsible Gold Guidance (RGG 10) once published. 

As work on RGG 10 picks up pace, the LBMA says it will continue to drive progress on key workstreams such as fast-tracking refiner transparency, enhancing assurance provider performance across the world and strengthening value chain engagement.

Further to these tranches of work, the LBMA is also focusing on its own transparency and enhancing its own policies and procedures. 

Those wishing to be involved in the public consultations for RGG 10 can contact responsible.sourcing@lbma.org.uk.