Ad image

Dukia Gold, Philoro sign agreement to deepen precious metals value chain

Oyindamola Akanni
Oyindamola Akanni
Dukia Gold, Philoro sign agreement to deepen precious metals value chain
Dukia Gold

Dukia Gold & Precious Metals Refining Co. Ltd Nigeria and Philoro Global Trading AG Switzerland, have signed a Working Together Agreement on the sidelines of the Investing in African Mining Indaba taking place in Capetown.

The agreement is to collaborate in the development of the Precious Metals small scale and artisanal gold mining value chain.

The agreement which was endorsed by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development will deepen participation in the extractive industry as well as consolidate strategies in the development of programmes needed to exploit the expected benefits in the sector.

Speaking at the event, Chief Operating Officer, COO, and Executive Director Dukia Gold , Paul Beesley, said  the objective of the “Working Together Agreement”,  was to bring about the establishment of a Precious Metals Trading programme centered in Nigeria to service and support the Nigerian market and potentially use  it as a basis to offer similar products to other African Markets.

Besides, he said, the partnership would assist in developing finance and technical support solutions to unlock Dukia Golds responsible sourcing of Dore’ strategies, including evaluation and development of new projects and supporting Small scale and Artisanal mining programmes.

The partnership, he said would strengthen and expand the Dukia Gold Precious Metals Refinery in support of the goal of being able to aggregate gold doré from third-party sources in Nigeria and across West Africa.

According to him, the ultimate target was to produce world class Good Delivery Bars and Coins.

Dukia Gold is listed on the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange, LCFE, and licenced to trade Good Delivery Gold products on the LCFE, thus making gold available for purchase and investment by Nigerians on the floor of the Exchange, while Heritage Bank is the main-driver and settlement of the gold eco-system in Nigeria.

Also speaking at the event, Mr Rudolf Brenner the President of Philoro said the company was delighted to expand its presence and global vision in Africa through its partnership with the Nigerian company Dukia Gold.

Mr Brenner said: “We at Philoro are thus delighted to expand our presence and actualisation of our global vision and objectives in Africa and particularly Nigeria through this Working Together Agreement with Dukia Gold and other identified stakeholders in the “Mines to Market” initiative. The support which Dukia Gold has received from, and the commitment of the Minister and the top echelon of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to the development of the mining sector in Nigeria are even more reassuring to our further engagements into the African continent.

“Today’s signing is a milestone, but we believe it is only a first step in a long relationship between the parties. The presence of the Minister and indeed the ambiance of this gathering sends a positive message, that Nigeria is a mining investment destination.”

In a general remarks on the signing of the agreement, Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Architect Olamilekan Adegbite, thanked everyone and commented that they had just witnessed the signing ceremony of a Working Together Agreement.

He said the signature was quite a simple affair but its significance went beyond the room where it was carried out.

The Minister said: “this is a fundamental major step towards trading of gold and gold products in Nigeria. Dukia Gold has been a frontier company blazing trails where other people have not been. They have done so much to try and bring the value chain in the gold business, gold assets to ordinary Nigerians. This will further deepen that with Philoro and its experience in this industry, Nigeria will have access to gold assets for investment.

“In this day of instability in currencies and volatility all over the world, gold being a safe haven does not have to be the exclusive of the wealthy, rich. Nigerians can buy gold coins which they can keep and invest on and trade. We are all part of this epoch-making event and I’m happy that we are all here today to witness this  symbolic signing ceremony, I hope to see them grow as this business grows and we can all look back some 10 years later and see how far we have come from this simple ceremony,” he added.

Share this Article