The Gold Marketing Chain in Suriname - WWF, Abu Dhabi unveil ...

uying with the intention to gain better control on exports. In line with this objective, the
Currency Committee issued a special permit to export crude gold to a select group. There are 8
companies who have permission to buy gold and of these 8 (eight), 5 (five) are allowed to
export and 1 (one) has a refinement permit 54 . The companies with both buying and exporting
permission are: Amazone Gold N.V., Century Mining N.V., Cactus N.V., Surmetex N.V., Suriname
Natural Stone N.V.. Furthermore, Ourominas N.V. and N.V. Edel (formerly known as Abrava)
only possess a buying permit. These companies are all registered at the Central Bank.
Chee’s Trading N.V. is the only Surinamese company with a refinement permit. This is a permit
that allows Chee’s to export crude gold with the purpose of refining it and making it into gold
jewelry. Chee’s is not allowed to sell the gold once it has been exported and must bring the
same amount of gold back into the country as jewelry. This jewelry must be sold on the local
market 55 .
Even though the Central Bank does not buy gold anymore, it is still the only legitimate place
where gold smiths and jewelers can obtain unprocessed gold. If a person (or company) wants to
operate as a jeweler/goldsmith in the country a license needs to be obtained from the Minister
of Trade and Industry under the State Order on Permits for Businesses and Occupations. This
licensing authority has been delegated by law to the Districts Commissioner 56 . Upon receipt of
the permit, the company needs to register at the Central Bank to buy gold. The Bank sells a
maximum of 200 grams of gold grains (they are called grenailles and are 99.99% pure gold) per
month to one jeweler.
Personal gold jewelry may be taken across the Surinamese borders, as long as the amount of
personal jewelry does not exceed the amount that is considered ‘normal’ for personal jewelry.
Crude gold can only be sold to juridical persons who possess a gold buying license issued by the
Currency Committee 57 . The Central bank of Suriname is the supervisory authority when it
comes to the observance of these rules. Since the Bank does not check every purchaser of gold,
it is not certain that the law is 100 % complied with.
54 Telephone communication mrs. Vaseur of the Currency Commission on June 24, 2010 and personal interview
with Mrs. Nemelc of the Currency Committee on July 15, 2010.
55 Permit condition in the Special Permit issued to Chee’s Trading N.V. This is a confidential document which
cannot be publicized according to the requests of the permit holder.
56 Article 2 of the State Order on Permits for Businesses and Occupations.
57 Article 11.1 of the Currency Regulation: Het is verboden, anders dan krachtens een vergunning, te beschikken
over: a. goud
52