Increasing gold theft from South African mines was funding international terrorism and human trafficking and amounted to a global money-laundering operation of huge magnitude, Pan African Resources CEO Jan Nelson said on Tuesday.
"Dirty money is coming in and clean gold is going out," Nelson told Mining Weekly Online at question time during the company's annual results presentation, where Pan African reported a 15% increase in underground gold production and 30% earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda).
"It's a money-laundering operation on a huge scale. We have to attack this problem at various levels and the role players are interacting and there is assistance from government," he said.
Pan African's security costs have risen to close to 3%, which represents a total of $15/oz of gold produced. Of that $15/oz, $7/oz goes directly towards fighting criminal miners.
At international level, UN resolutions were being evoked and special programmes implemented.
"Interpol is involved, because the money leaves South Africa and it's funding international terrorism and it's also funding human trafficking," Nelson divulged.
Rising SA gold theft funding 'terrorism, human trafficking' – Pan African
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