New to selling gold - advice needed

[yall002]

Hi,

Basically I have come across a contact through family that has offered to sell me relatively large amounts of gold sourced from West Africa. Though I am excited at the prospects of this I am also wary of the risks involved!Some advice would be greatly appreciated .

While last in West Africa I was given a 3 gram sample that was claimed to be gold refined to 24k. I have not had this assayed yet but will be looking to do so in the next few days.

If this all checks out what would be the best way of going about this? Who would I be looking to sell to? I would like to broker a large deal with a distributor if possible - would I look for contacts through local refineries? Would I get the gold refined further into bars and then try to sell it on the open market, or just sell it direct to refineries? And if so how close to spot price would I be looking to receive? So many questions :S

I am currently based in New Zealand and London. Any advice or people that I could get in contact with would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Jacob

 

[Barren Realms 007]

I would run for the hills if I were you and stay clear of the area.

 

[yall002]

Can you elaborate a little please? Bear in mind that the person that I sourced the gold from is someone that can definitely be trusted, not some prince from Nigeria who needs your bank account details to deposit your long lost inheritance

 

[patnor1011]

Bear in mind that this trusted person may have been conned too. Is it somebody who actually mine that gold? Did you see his mine and production? Did you get offered that gold reasonable priced?

First of all I would not go there without at least small unit of Blackwater contractors. Secondly we all know or met trusted (in this once in lifetime opportunity better say hopelesly conned) persons and yes some of us got few grams of samples which actually contained gold. Start thinking how is that your trusted person or you got this offer. Do he or you own big refinery, jewellry making or gold importing company? If not then just forget about that and enjoy your 3 grams of maybe gold. Why on earth will anybody offer you gold for 50-80% of spot if they can flog it for nearly 100% without any difficulty be it from Africa, Azia, South America, Russia or Mars. Many refiners or gold merchants will pay them spot and have Brinks to transport that anywhere in world.

Stay here on this forum for some time and you will see amount of those trusted persons who are trying to sort us out with these perfect unique business opportunities. You can get about 2 per month so you are not losing anything.

http://www.scamorama.com/
http://www.419eater.com/
http://www.419baiter.com/

 

[yall002]

Ok I get your point. I have not delved that deep into the details of how this gold was mined/refined. It was not a sudden offer that I received, but something that I was looking into for a little while, and that was what I was able to find.

If I did source more gold from this person, I would personally go there and physically buy the commodity. Don't worry I will look into this in much more detail before I make any rash decisions. Assuming everything is legit and I'm not being scammed, how would you suggest that I proceed?

 

[nickvc]

Ok I get your point. I have not delved that deep into the details of how this gold was mined/refined. It was not a sudden offer that I received, but something that I was looking into for a little while, and that was what I was able to find.

If I did source more gold from this person, I would personally go there and physically buy the commodity. Don't worry I will look into this in much more detail before I make any rash decisions. Assuming everything is legit and I'm not being scammed, how would you suggest that I proceed?

With extreme caution!
As you can't even tell if the sample you have is fine gold or not your knowledge of what exactly your looking at is easily exploited and boy do these lads know how to exploit any situation given half a chance..
No disrespect is meant but you will be a sitting duck for every and any scam they want to pull and many much more experienced people have been scammed in Africa very
professionally.
My advice is stay well away unless you can afford to lose your money and even more so if the deal looks too good.

 

[patnor1011]

Ok I get your point. I have not delved that deep into the details of how this gold was mined/refined. It was not a sudden offer that I received, but something that I was looking into for a little while, and that was what I was able to find.

If I did source more gold from this person, I would personally go there and physically buy the commodity. Don't worry I will look into this in much more detail before I make any rash decisions. Assuming everything is legit and I'm not being scammed, how would you suggest that I proceed?

1. They are known to engage in conversation to try to make deal with you - that phase may take few months even year - they have all time they want as you are one of many in the same time.

2. When you will go there to physically buy gold I suggest you take companion with you. From 5 to 20 people from this company it depend how safe you want to feel: http://www.ustraining.com/new/index.asp
XE Security formerly known as Blackwater Security
That may cost something - take that as investment in safety.

3. Then you are going to pay close to spot and you will not be able to cover your costs as you are not established company with necessary contacts and experience to conduct this type of business professionaly.

To sumarize all this:
a./ it is just a scam and you still do not believe that. You have been warned.
b./ you may be scammer fishing here. However forum members are clever enough to know what is real and what is pie in the sky. (dont take this personally but we had quite few members who tryied to push this type of deal through and it was a good laugh to hear those stories)

This is the same like communicating with somebody who will try to make you to come to germany to get cars and become their USA dealer for Mercedes Benz. All you need to do is to come down to fatherland, get newest models from there for 50% of price transport them to usa. Did you ever sell cars? No? No problem we will sell them for you even cheaper.
The only difference is that Germany is not Ghana or Angola.

 

[yall002]

Alright, point taken. I'm not going to let myself get scammed, but it sounds to me that based on previous experiences this is likely to be a waste of my time.

BTW the country that I was speaking of is Mali - I have been there many times and do not fear for my safety there. It is a pretty safe place compared to the majority of Africa which is like the wild west.

 

[stihl88]

A quick Google search bought up quite a few strings with the words "Gold", "Scam" & "Mali" in the one sentence.
Theres no such thing as a free lunch, take the advice from the experienced guys here because they are telling you not to touch this.

Some of the board members here have been refining gold their whole lives and have heard it all! If it were that easy they would be on a beach in the Maldives while they are raking in buckets of gold back in Mali.

I wouldn't touch this, it's just not worth finding out the hard way that no body gets a free lunch, and even if you do as has been mentioned, you still need to shift he stuff yourself.

 

[greatgems]

Gold from Africa is actually not legal to import to the states with out proper documents and is on really hard process. So if your supplier is real your lucky for one and 2 they always ask for payment upfront big mistake or payment of all taxes it's just a scam. If they are real they will require a Letter of Credit or a bank gurentee of payment which they sellers usually try to use or draw on before they ship the gold I had on seller take a multiple million dollar letter of credit and use it to buy gold for themselfs. If you want I have been doing this for years. If your seller can provide proof they are real and if they are from Ghana there pmmc number would help I would buy the gold an pay you a nice commission that takes the risk out of it for you

 

[greatgems]

It is also very illegal to go to the mines in Ghana. Mali, Togo, seirra leonne You can find this directly on there governments website. I found serious sellers when you provide proof of your financial capacity will bring goods to your refiner of choice this is the only safe way to do this business

 

[Palladium]

Gold Operations in Ghana are in two Sectors

--The big mining companies; and the small-scale sector. PMMC is responsible for the small-scale, which is comprised of individuals, small and medium size mining companies.
--Generally, any mining operation with concession up to 25 acres is considered a small-scale mine. PMMC purchases glod from small-scale miners and in turn export abroad. PMMC already has an existing contract to sell its gold to an overseas gold refinery, however applicants with favourable terms may be considered.
--Overseas Buyers seeking to purchase gold from Ghana may contact other licensed gold buyers. However, any offers received from suppliers are to be confirmed with PMMC for advice on genuineness of transaction.
--Overseas Buyers of gold are strictly advised NOT to pay cash directly to any local suppliers of gold
Bank of Ghana regulations require that payment for gold suppliers are made by Bank-to-Bank transfer via Bank of Ghana (i.e. The Central Bank of Ghana).

EXPORT PROCEDURES

1. The gold to be exported shall be delivered by the licensed Gold Buyer to PMMC premises by 9.00 a.m for assaying on the day of export, if already smelted. Otherwise the unsmelting gold a day before the dayh of export.

2. PMMC shall issue Assay Invoice which will indicate the weight and the purity of gold to be exported.

3. The gold to be exported shall be sealed and secured in metal/wooden specie boxes on the day of export by PMMC in the presence of the following group of officers.

--Ghana Customs Officers
--PMMC Officials
--The Licensed Gold Buyer who has requested for the gold export.

4. PMMC will complete the Bank of Ghana and Ghana Custom export documents on behalf of the Local Seller/Gold Buyer.

5. The Licensed Gold Buyer will be required to supply the full address and the telephone number of the overseas destination for the export.

6. PMMC will be responsible to transport the gold to Kotoka International Airport, Accra for delivery to the airline (currently KLM).

7. The Licensed Gold Buyer and the Overseas Buyer shall be responsible for the Insurance and Airfreight charges of the gold to be exported.

8. The gold to be exported will be accompanied by the following documents:-

PMMC Assay invoice which will indicate:

• Purity (i.e. Gold content).
• Quantity in ounces and kgs.
• Value in both US Dollars and Local Currency.

The value of the gold will be based on the spot price of the London Metal Exchange (LME) on the day of export.

• Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Customs export documents.
• Airway Bill.

9. Funds in US Dollars representing the export value of the gold should be transferred to PMMC account at the Bank of Ghana (i.e. The Central Bank of Ghana), with The Licensed Gold Buyer noted therein as the beneficiary, prior to the export of the gold. PMMC will provide the Bank transfer instructions to the exporter for the information of the overseas buyer to facilitate the transfer of fund.

10. PMMC fees for the export of gold are :-

--Shipment charges : - 0.50% of the export value of the gold
--Assay charges : - $50.00 per bar of 5kgs
--Smelting charges : - $20 per kg. Of gold
--These fees are payable on the day of export of the gold

 

[mlgdave]

2 people I know personally lost a combined total of 1.2 million over a period of 15 months. Cost 1 Guy his mining company.

Mlgdave

 

[yall002]

The Gold is being bought directly from a mine site in Mali. Im still not sure how legal it would be to trade this gold. WIll need to follow up the PMMC thing and see if the same method is used in Bamako...

 

[eeTHr]

yall---

Mines sell directly to refiners.

Why would they want to sell to you for less?

 

[yall002]

eethr - miners also sell to people who visit the sites and offer to buy gold up front. Many of these minesites are makeshift rather than large operations and this gets resold in the local market in Bamako. They wouldn't be selling to me for very much less than refiners

 

[patnor1011]

To put this to an end - Price offered is the key. If it is below 90% of a spot it is likely to be hoax or con. They may get you reduction if they want to cheat government out of tax but then you become part of crime and held liable for your actions. I for one would not be happy sleeping with tought of going to spend few nights/months/years in Mali prison.