Cameroon’s National Mining Company (Sonamines) is intensifying its scrutiny of gold miners operating within the country’s borders. Following a rigorous inspection tour across the Adamawa and East regions—key hubs for both artisanal and semi-mechanized gold production—General Director Serge Hervé Boyogueno has delivered a sobering assessment. Numerous operators are falling short of expected production targets, while others face insolvency. Environmental violations and murky trade practices further undermine the state’s control over the sector.
Ground-level inspections expose weaknesses in the gold mining sector
The Adamawa and East regions are the backbone of Cameroon’s gold mining industry, home to semi-mechanized companies alongside countless small-scale miners. The Sonamines-led audit aimed to assess permit holders’ compliance with contractual and regulatory obligations. Boyogueno’s findings reveal a persistent gap between the commitments made during permit issuance and the actual performance observed in the field.
A significant number of operators are failing to meet the production thresholds outlined in their agreements. For some, this shortfall is compounded by financial insolvency, leaving them unable to meet obligations to the state. On this matter, the Sonamines director has deferred to the Ministry of Mines, which holds the sole authority to suspend or revoke permits. The state-owned company’s role is strictly technical, documenting non-compliance while leaving enforcement to political authorities.
Three critical challenges: insolvency, environmental harm, and opaque trade
Beyond financial irregularities, the audit uncovered severe environmental issues. Many sites lack proper rehabilitation, wastewater containing mercury or cyanide remains unmanaged, and extraction zones remain inadequately secured. These lapses pose serious health risks to nearby communities and threaten the long-term viability of a sector that plays an increasingly vital role in the local economies of the East and Adamawa regions.
The trade front presents another set of challenges. A substantial portion of mined gold bypasses official channels, feeding into regional smuggling networks. This not only deprives the national treasury of revenue but also obstructs efforts to ensure the traceability of gold—a cornerstone of Yaoundé’s push for mineral sovereignty. Sonamines is now tightening oversight by enforcing stricter reporting requirements and expanding the network of authorized collection points.
Cameroon’s push for a national gold reserve
The most ambitious goal set by Sonamines leadership is the creation of a national strategic gold reserve. Inspired by similar initiatives in other African central banks, this move aims to bolster Cameroon’s monetary policy by providing a metallic asset buffer against external shocks. The strategy aligns with broader trends in the subregion, where producer nations seek to maximize value from their natural resources.
Achieving this objective will require Sonamines to redirect a significant share of domestic production into official channels. Success depends on cleaning up the operator landscape, offering competitive buying prices to counter informal buyers, and strengthening coordination with security forces and customs along border corridors. The Ministry of Mines’ forthcoming decisions on non-compliant operators will be pivotal in determining the pace of reform.
The implementation phase of Cameroon’s mining reforms promises to be complex. It must balance the need for strict contract compliance, the preservation of informal employment opportunities, and the ambition to integrate gold into a broader framework of financial sovereignty. While no official timeline for ministerial rulings has been announced, the audit findings are expected to shape upcoming directives. The director general has indicated plans to expand inspections to additional mining basins in the near future.
