An international investigation by IrpiMedia, Armando.Info and OCCRP reveals that over 70 tonnes of gold largely sourced in Venezuela's Amazon were laundered through the Caribbean island of Curaçao and refined in Switzerland and Italy before entering the global supply chains of Apple, Tesla and Nvidia.
The investigation, based on hundreds of confidential documents, traces a sophisticated scheme. Gold extracted from the Orinoco Mining Arc, an area plagued by deforestation, mercury contamination, forced labour and armed group control, was labeled as recycled scrap and shipped to Curaçao. Through a Swiss intermediary, PMS SA, the gold, declared as a product of the Dutch Caribbeans, reached the Argor-Heraeus refinery in Ticino Canton and, to a lesser extent, Italpreziosi in Arezzo, entering legitimate markets as Swiss-origin recycled material.
Technical analysis of 469 refining certificates, commissioned from independent geology and metallurgy experts, contradicts the refineries' claims that the gold was entirely recycled scrap. The gold's chemical profile is more compatible with Venezuelan mine output, not recycled jewellery. The findings expose critical loopholes in the definition and due diligence of "recycled gold".
Image by James O’Brien, OCCRP.
