Maltese technology being used to secure Ghana gold exports

Maltese technology supplied to a major gold miner in Ghana has helped ensure the traceability and the secure export of gold bullion to several international clients.

The bag and tag system, using RFID technology and GPS tracking, enables the gold bullion to be tracked from the mine through four different journey stages: to the warehouse; through customs; to the airport; and on to the purchaser.

Cameras have also been installed in the bullion vans, both inside and on the exterior (front and rear), to boost security even further.

The doré gold is smelted into bars of 1 kg, 5 kg and 10 kg, according to the purchaser’s specifications. The gold is then placed in metal boxes and an RFID tag is attached. Colour-coded tags are used for the different stages of the journey so that, once a tag is scanned, a new tag is attached.

The RFID tags are rugged, tamper-proof and can be read from long-distance. RFID hand-held readers are then used to scan the tags and everything is reflected in a Handson cloud-based dashboard since the readers are both GPS and 3G enabled.

The inspection system that is now operated by the Ghana Customs Department boasts accurate data, improved traceability and detailed data with reporting available in real-time.

A mobile app, downloaded by the customer, who is supplied with a QR code on the incoming shipment, gives him access to an audit trail of the entire journey, enabling him to receive information at every stage of the way.

“With the help of our technology, there is renewed trust in the sector. Since the system has been installed, exports have increased from 300 kg to over 1 tonne per month,” Luke Muscat, Product Manager at HandsOn Systems, said.

HandsOn Systems CEO Geoffrey Farrugia, who went to Ghana at the end of 2023, to make the presentation to the client and the Ghana Customs Department, said he was satisfied with the take-up of the system and stressed that HandsOn’s technology was making a difference.

This technology is helping Ghana’s government to formalise the gold mining sector and is expected to become an industry standard throughout the mining sector across the globe.