How we engage
From first call to closed file
Every engagement follows the same spine: a short call to see whether we fit, a structured session to scope the work, a written statement of what we will deliver, and a compliance check before anyone travels. This page shows that spine, and the four processes that hang off it: consulting and service provision, onboarding a client, buying, selling, importing and exporting material, and running a special or pilot project.
The spine
Four gates every engagement passes
We do not start work on a handshake. Three gates sit between an inquiry and fieldwork, a fourth between the draft and the final report, and each one leaves a written record.
Fit and conflicts
Conflict-of-interest check and a preliminary sanctions screen on the inquiring party before we take the call.
Scope agreed
The scoping memo is accepted by the client: objectives, scope, access, constraints, success criteria and an indicative fee range.
Signed and cleared
Statement of work signed, onboarding complete and compliance approval given. No fieldwork before this gate.
Draft accepted
The client has checked the draft findings for factual accuracy. Editorial control stays with us; the evidence appendix is frozen.
What every engagement carries
- A written record of every decision, from the first call note to the close-out pack
- Sanctions, politically-exposed-person and adverse-media screening of the client and every counterparty in scope
- Independent assay and independent inspection wherever a number depends on a sample
- Published prices at the gate and no cash without a receipt and a log entry
- A security and journey-management plan for any field component
- A named escalation path on both sides and a grievance channel open to third parties
- Change control: scope changes are written, priced and signed before the work moves
Typical timings
| Charter call | Within five business days of the inquiry |
|---|---|
| Engagement scoping session | Within two weeks of the call |
| Proposal and statement of work | Within five business days of the session |
| Client onboarding | One to three weeks, depending on ownership complexity and jurisdictions |
| Verification engagement | Four to sixteen weeks from kick-off, by scope and season |
| Pilot project | Three to six months of operation plus a one-month evaluation |
Process 1
Consulting and service provision
The core engagement: a client wants a site, a partner, a supply chain or a set of accounts verified, or a plant, a gate or a control environment designed and stood up. Ten steps, four gates.
Consulting engagement, from inquiry to close-out
- 01
Inquiry and conflict check
Client · GMPG lead consultant
The client writes to us with the problem in a paragraph. We log the inquiry, run a conflict-of-interest check against current and past engagements, and run a preliminary sanctions screen on the inquiring entity and its visible owners. If either check fails, we say so and stop.
- Deliverables
- Inquiry record
- Go or no-go to a call
- 02
Charter call
Client sponsor · GMPG lead consultant
Thirty to forty-five minutes by video or phone. We want to understand the problem as the client sees it, who makes the decision, the timeline and the budget envelope. We explain how we work and what we will not do. The call ends with a mutual decision on whether to scope the work.
- Deliverables
- Call note shared with the client
- Decision to scope, decline or refer
- 03
Engagement scoping session
Client sponsor and working team · GMPG consultants
A two-to-three-hour structured session, in person or by video. We work through objectives, the questions the client needs answered, the sites and entities in scope, the data and access we will need, constraints (security, legal, season), stakeholders, success criteria and the risks on both sides. We map the ask against the five things we verify before capital moves: title, people, geology, custody and cash.
- Deliverables
- Scoping memo with a draft scope and an indicative fee range
- Access and data request list
- 04
Proposal and statement of work
GMPG lead consultant · client procurement or counsel
The proposal turns the memo into deliverables, method, team, schedule, fees (fixed, phased or retained), assumptions, exclusions and client dependencies, under our standard terms. The client reviews; we allow one round of revision before signature.
- Deliverables
- Statement of work for signature
- Fee schedule and payment milestones
- 05
Client onboarding
Client finance and legal · GMPG compliance
Know-your-customer and beneficial-ownership checks, sanctions and adverse-media screening, non-disclosure agreement, master services agreement, retainer invoice and a secure data room. Compliance approval is a gate: no fieldwork starts before it is given. The onboarding process is set out in full below.
- Deliverables
- Compliance approval on file
- Signed agreements, retainer received
- 06
Kick-off and mobilisation
Both teams
A kick-off meeting fixes the engagement plan: work breakdown, who is responsible for what, reporting format and cadence, and the escalation path. For any field component we write a security and journey-management plan and brief the team. Equipment, permits and local partners are confirmed.
- Deliverables
- Engagement plan and calendar
- Security and journey-management plan
- 07
Fieldwork and analysis
GMPG consultants and vetted specialists
We verify title, people, geology, custody and cash: document review, registry and cadastre checks, site visits, interviews, sampling and independent assay where a number depends on it. A weekly written status goes to the client. An issues log tracks anything that could change the scope, and scope changes go through written change control.
- Deliverables
- Weekly status notes
- Evidence file and issues log
- 08
Findings and recommendations
GMPG lead consultant · client sponsor
A draft report goes to the client to check for factual accuracy, not for editorial control. The final report carries an evidence appendix, decision options and the numbers behind each option. We present it in a readout session and answer questions on the record.
- Deliverables
- Final report with evidence appendix
- Readout session
- 09
Implementation support
GMPG consultants · client operations
Optional and separately scoped. We help stand up the controls, run procurement, select partners, design the plant or the purchase gate, and train the people who will run them. Retained advisory is available at a monthly fee.
- Deliverables
- Implementation plan
- Retained advisory agreement, if wanted
- 10
Close-out
Both teams
A handover pack collects every deliverable and the evidence behind it. We hold a lessons-learned review, retain the file under our retention policy, ask for the client's feedback and agree any follow-up: monitoring, a next phase or nothing further.
- Deliverables
- Handover pack
- Close-out note and feedback
Process 2
Onboarding a client
Buyers and off-takers, investors and lenders, concession holders, cooperatives, agencies and non-governmental organisations all come through the same door. Nine steps, one hard stop: no fieldwork before compliance approval.
Client onboarding, from intake to kick-off
- 01
Intake
Client · GMPG compliance
The client completes an onboarding form: legal entity details, an ownership chart, directors and signatories, ultimate beneficial owners at ten per cent or more, the jurisdictions involved, the source of funds for the engagement and its purpose.
- Deliverables
- Completed intake form
- Ownership chart
- 02
Identity and ownership verification
GMPG compliance
We verify the entity and its owners against independent sources: corporate registry extracts, identity documents of beneficial owners and signatories, proof of address, and registry cross-checks in each jurisdiction named.
- Deliverables
- Verified identity file
- 03
Screening
GMPG compliance
Sanctions lists (United States, European Union, United Kingdom, United Nations), politically exposed persons, adverse media and export-control lists. We screen the client, its owners and directors, and every counterparty and site the client wants us to work on.
- Deliverables
- Screening report with hits reviewed and cleared or escalated
- 04
Risk rating
GMPG compliance
Low, medium or high, by jurisdiction, sector, ownership complexity, political exposure and cash intensity. A high rating triggers enhanced due diligence: source-of-wealth checks, a visit to the client's offices and senior sign-off.
- Deliverables
- Risk rating with rationale
- Enhanced due-diligence file where triggered
- 05
Compliance decision
GMPG compliance · senior sign-off
Approve, approve with conditions (monitoring, a restricted scope) or decline, with the rationale written down. This is a hard stop. No fieldwork, no site visit and no purchase begins before approval is on file. A decline is recorded with its reasons and the file is closed.
- Deliverables
- Decision memo
- Conditions register, if any
- 06
Contracting
Client legal · GMPG lead consultant
Non-disclosure agreement, master services agreement or engagement letter, the statement of work, data-processing terms and an acknowledgement of our code of conduct: anti-bribery, no child or forced labour, and our security and human-rights commitments.
- Deliverables
- Signed agreement set
- 07
Commercial set-up
Client finance · GMPG finance
Billing details, the retainer, an invoicing schedule and an expense policy. Payment channels are verified by call-back to a known contact before the first transfer moves in either direction.
- Deliverables
- Retainer received
- Verified payment instructions
- 08
Access and data room
Both teams
A secure data room is opened with named contacts on both sides and agreed communication channels. Field staff receive a security briefing specific to the sites in scope.
- Deliverables
- Data room and contact list
- Security briefing record
- 09
Kick-off and ongoing monitoring
Both teams · GMPG compliance
The engagement kick-off follows. Screening is repeated annually and on trigger events (a change of ownership, a new jurisdiction, a sanctions update), and the ownership chart is refreshed.
- Deliverables
- Kick-off record
- Monitoring schedule
Process 3
Buying, selling, import and export
Two sides of the same record, and the border between them. At the plant gate we buy raw deliveries from registered producers at a published price. To buyers we sell refined or concentrated material with an origin, a custody record and a grade they can check, and we export it under the certificates the state issues. Coming the other way, we import the plant, reagents and supplies our sites need, and the commodities we trade into the region, through the same discipline of screening, permits and receipted duties.
Buy side: raw material at the plant gate
Sell and export side: from buyer inquiry to post-trade file
Import side: equipment, reagents, supplies and traded commodities into the region
- 01
Producer registration (buy side)
Producer · gate officer
A producer who wants to sell at our gate is registered once: identity and age against a miner card or identity document, the approved cooperative or licence the producer sells under, and an approved site of origin. Registration is free, takes minutes and puts the producer's name on every ticket that follows.
- Deliverables
- Producer record with approved site of origin
- 02
Delivery, weigh, sample, assay
Producer · gate officer · assayer
Deliveries arrive at a secured gate and are time-stamped. The producer's card and age are checked before anything goes on the scale; a delivery from a person who cannot show age is refused. Material is weighed on a calibrated scale and the producer keeps a ticket. A sample is analysed on the spot with a portable analyser, with laboratory confirmation for lots above a threshold. The producer watches every step.
- Deliverables
- Weigh ticket
- Assay result on the ticket
- 03
Price and payment
Gate officer · cashier
The price comes from the published price sheet for that day: grade, moisture and any deductions are read off the sheet in front of the producer. Payment is recorded and traceable, by mobile money or bank transfer where available. Where cash is unavoidable it moves only against a receipt and a log entry.
- Deliverables
- Payment record tied to the ticket
- 04
Lot record, custody and processing
Gate officer · custody officer
Every purchase becomes a lot: tag number, weight, assay, origin and a photograph. The lot enters a sealed store and its chain of custody begins. Lots are then processed in-house, lot by lot: concentrated in the plant's gravity circuit or, for gold, refined to doré. The lot number follows the material through every stage, and from here it stays in our hands until it is sold.
- Deliverables
- Lot record
- Custody log entry
- Processing record against the lot number
- 05
Buyer inquiry and due diligence (sell side)
Buyer · GMPG trading and compliance
A buyer sends a specification, volume and delivery window. We run know-your-customer, beneficial-ownership, sanctions and end-use checks on the buyer; the buyer runs its own OECD five-step due diligence on us and receives our sourcing due-diligence records to do it. A cleared buyer receives a representative sample and the agreed assay method.
- Deliverables
- Buyer cleared
- Sample and specification sheet
- 06
Offer and contract
GMPG trading · buyer
The indicative offer sets the reference price, payable percentages, treatment and refining charges and penalty terms. The contract fixes the sales and purchase terms, Incoterms, quantity tolerance, assay and umpire clauses, and payment terms: a letter of credit, escrow or documentary collection, with prepayment for a first trade.
- Deliverables
- Signed sales and purchase agreement
- 07
Export documentation and inspection
GMPG logistics · independent surveyor · authorities
Certificate of origin; the ICGLR regional certificate and, for gold and gemstones, the certificate and valuation of the CEEC, the state's mineral valuation agency, where the exporting state issues them; a Kimberley Process certificate for rough diamonds; the export permit, traceability record, packing list, assay certificate and insurance. Buyer, consignee and carrier are re-screened against the sanctions lists before the shipment leaves, and an independent surveyor witnesses weight, sampling and sealing.
- Deliverables
- Complete export document set
- Inspection certificate
- 08
Export shipment and corridor
GMPG logistics · carrier · insurer
Insured and tracked from the plant to the buyer's named place under the agreed Incoterms: concentrates by road under bond to Dar es Salaam or Lobito and on by sea, gold by air under armed escort and separate insurance. The exporter of record, the customs declaration through a licensed clearing agent and the receipted duties and royalties are part of the file. Any deviation from the plan is logged and reported to the buyer the same day.
- Deliverables
- Shipping documents and customs declaration
- Tracking record
- 09
Payment and reconciliation
Buyer · GMPG finance
Provisional payment against documents, then final assay reconciliation at the buyer's or umpire's laboratory and a final invoice or credit note. Differences beyond the agreed tolerance go to the umpire named in the contract.
- Deliverables
- Final invoice
- Reconciliation statement
- 10
Post-trade file
GMPG compliance
Every trade closes with a due-diligence report to the buyer and an audit-ready file: producer records, lot records, assays, custody log, documents, inspection and payments. A buyer, a lender or a regulator can follow the material from the gate to delivery without asking us to explain.
- Deliverables
- Due-diligence report
- Audit-ready trade file
- 11
Import plan and classification
GMPG procurement · compliance
Every import starts with a written plan: what is coming in (plant and equipment, reagents and spares for our sites, or commodities we import for sale such as fuel and grain), quantities, tariff codes, the permits it needs, and the duty and value-added-tax treatment, including relief under the mining code where equipment is destined for a permitted site. Restricted goods such as chemicals, fuels and dual-use equipment are flagged here.
- Deliverables
- Import plan with tariff codes and permit list
- 12
Supplier due diligence and purchase
GMPG procurement · compliance · supplier
The supplier is screened the way a client is: identity, ownership, sanctions and export-control lists, adverse media. Where the goods are export-controlled in the country of origin we provide the end-user certificate. The purchase is contracted on a pro forma invoice with Incoterms, delivery dates and payment by letter of credit or prepayment, under our anti-bribery terms: no facilitation payments anywhere in the chain.
- Deliverables
- Supplier cleared
- Purchase contract and payment instrument
- 13
Permits, inspection and shipping
GMPG logistics · licensed clearing agent · freight forwarder
Import permits and any duty-relief approvals are obtained before the goods ship. Where the destination state requires a pre-shipment conformity inspection, it is booked at origin. The forwarder issues the bill of lading or air waybill, and the document set (invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, permits, insurance) travels ahead of the goods.
- Deliverables
- Permits and approvals on file
- Shipping documents
- 14
Port clearance and bonded transit
Clearing agent · GMPG logistics
At Dar es Salaam, Mombasa or Lobito a licensed clearing agent lodges the declaration; duties and taxes are paid to the revenue authority by transfer and receipted. Goods bound for the DRC move under bond to the border and are declared again at the point of entry. No payment is made to any official except against an official receipt.
- Deliverables
- Customs release
- Duty and tax receipts
- 15
Inland transport and receipt
GMPG logistics · security
Inland movement follows the same journey-management rules as our people: routes, timings, escorts where the cargo warrants them, tracking. On arrival the consignment is checked against the packing list, any shortage or damage is claimed against the carrier or insurer within the policy window, and equipment is entered in the asset register.
- Deliverables
- Goods receipt note
- Asset register entry
- 16
Import file
GMPG compliance
Each shipment closes with a file: plan, supplier screening, contract, permits, inspection certificate, declarations, duty receipts and the receipt note, retained under our record policy so an auditor or a regulator can follow the goods from order to site.
- Deliverables
- Audit-ready import file
Gold doré from the plant is refined in-house to fine gold and either vaulted or sold at spot; gemstones and diamonds are graded and priced per carat, and rough diamonds move only under a Kimberley Process certificate.
Prices at the gate are published before the material leaves the ground. The sheet is posted at the gate and updated with the reference markets.
Exports leave under the certificates the exporting state issues and through a licensed clearing agent; imports enter the same way. In both directions every duty, tax and fee is paid by transfer against an official receipt, and the file for each shipment is kept for audit.
Process 4
Special and pilot projects
A pilot proves a hypothesis on a small footprint before capital scales it: a gate at a new site group, a new mineral, a processing route, a traceability method. Nine steps, three stage gates inside the run, and a written stop-loss agreed before anything starts.
Special and pilot projects, from concept to scale-up or close-out
- 01
Concept note
Sponsor · GMPG lead consultant
Two pages: the problem, the hypothesis, what a pilot would prove or disprove, the rough size and cost, and who sponsors it. Anything longer at this stage is a design, not a concept.
- Deliverables
- Concept note
- 02
Feasibility screen
GMPG consultants and specialists
The five checks, title, people, geology, custody and cash, at desk level, plus legal and regulatory review and a security assessment. If any check fails, the pilot stops here and the reasons are recorded.
- Deliverables
- Feasibility memo with a go or stop
- 03
Pilot design
GMPG consultants · sponsor · partners
Scope (sites, volumes, a duration of three to six months), key performance indicators and stop-loss criteria, budget and funding, partners, governance (a steering group and its cadence), the data plan and the exit criteria. The stop-loss is agreed in writing before anything else is bought.
- Deliverables
- Pilot design document
- Budget and stop-loss agreement
- 04
Approvals and agreements
GMPG · authorities · community · partners
Internal approval, permits and authority notifications, community and cooperative agreements, partner memoranda and insurance. Nothing mobilises until the agreements the pilot depends on are signed.
- Deliverables
- Approvals register
- Signed agreements
- 05
Mobilisation
GMPG operations
Team, equipment, the security and journey-management plan, and baseline data collected before the first purchase or the first tonne, so that the evaluation has something to compare against.
- Deliverables
- Baseline data set
- Mobilisation checklist complete
- 06
Run the pilot
GMPG operations · steering group
Three stage gates: set-up complete, mid-point review, end review. Weekly data against the indicators, monthly steering, an incident log and written change control. A breach of the stop-loss triggers a steering decision within a week.
- Deliverables
- Weekly data
- Stage-gate minutes
- 07
Evaluate
GMPG consultants · independent reviewer where material
Indicators against targets, unit economics, control effectiveness, incidents and community feedback. Where the decision is material to capital, an independent reviewer checks the evaluation.
- Deliverables
- Evaluation report
- 08
Decide
Sponsor · steering group
Scale into the tranche plan, iterate (redesign and rerun on the same footprint) or stop. The decision and its reasons are written down either way.
- Deliverables
- Decision memo
- 09
Scale-up or close-out
GMPG · sponsor
A scale-up plan with a capital request and a place in the tranche schedule, or an orderly close-out: obligations settled, equipment recovered, lessons documented and the data archived for the next attempt.
- Deliverables
- Scale-up plan and capital request, or close-out report
Start with the call
Book a charter call
Write to us with the problem in a paragraph. We will come back within five business days with a time for the call and the two questions we will ask first.
Contact us