From artisanal mine to LBMA-grade refinery to insured vault to digital token — GoldX is Uganda's first regulated, end-to-end gold platform. Mercury and cyanide free processing. Every gram of physical gold is verified, refined, custodied, and made investable.
GoldX is a fully integrated gold infrastructure and digital settlement platform developed by ARIFUND Co. Ltd and advised by Oakstone Capital. It connects Uganda's artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector — which accounts for the vast majority of the country's gold output — to world-standard physical infrastructure, regulated custody, and a digital investment layer accessible to domestic and international investors.
The platform operates across five interdependent layers: mobile hard rock processing, partnership-based LBMA-grade refining (located at LAVITT Park), insured vaulting, digital tokenisation, and T+0 cross-border settlement. Each layer is designed to retain value within Uganda's economy rather than allowing it to leak offshore at every stage of the gold value chain. All processing operations use mercury and cyanide free technology — meeting international environmental and health standards for responsible artisanal mining.
GoldX is the anchor tenant of the Arifund Digital Financial Centre (ADFC) at LAVITT Park, Jinja — where partnership-based refining is co-located within the ADFC ecosystem. Physical field processing operations run from two Phase 1 sites: Arifund's own site at Busia (Eastern Uganda) and in collaboration with an artisanal miners cooperative at Namayingo. Processed concentrate from both sites feeds into LAVITT Park's refinery partnership for bullion production and tokenisation.
Billions in minerals — minimal value retained domestically. Three structural failures define the market.
Uganda exported $5.8 billion in gold in 2025 — 76% of total national exports. Yet refining margins, vaulting fees, and settlement income all flow to foreign intermediaries. Without domestic infrastructure, Uganda mines the value but cannot retain it.
Artisanal and small-scale miners represent the backbone of Uganda's gold sector, yet the vast majority operate outside formal systems — unable to access fair pricing, credit, or institutional markets. Smuggling losses cost the economy billions annually.
Uganda has no LBMA-grade domestic refinery or institutional-grade vaulting facility. Gold is exported as raw doré, forfeiting the refining premium. Investors cannot access physical gold-backed products structured to international standards.
One continuous platform from mine gate to investor portfolio — no breaks in the chain, no value leaking offshore.
Mobile hard rock processing plant — 2 tph pilot capacity. Mercury and cyanide free. Two-stage crushing, grinding circuit, centrifugal concentrator beneficiation. Fully mobile on trailers. Operated at Busia (own site) and Namayingo (ASM cooperative).
Busia & Namayingo — Hg & CN free99.99% purity output. LBMA-grade bullion bars produced at the LAVITT Park refinery partnership, Jinja. Fire assay and spectrometry laboratory for independent verification.
World-standard outputour LBMA-certified vault operator insured vaulting. LBMA-certified storage with full insurance coverage and quarterly independent audit.
our LBMA-certified vault operator1 GoldX token = 1 gram of 99.99% pure gold. Smart contract issuance on a CMA-approved platform. Fractional ownership from $10,000 (pilot phase).
CMA SandboxT+0 delivery-vs-payment finality. Cross-border transaction capability. FIA AML/CFT compliant. BoU reporting integration.
T+0 FinalityEvery token is backed 1:1 by audited physical gold held in our LBMA-certified custodian LBMA-certified vaults. Redemption into physical gold or fiat is available at any time.
Every token in circulation is matched to a specific gram of physical gold. The reserve chain runs from real-time digital verification through to annual IFRS-standard financial audit — providing investors with continuous assurance at every level.
Two complementary Phase 1 field sites feed concentrate into the LAVITT Park refinery partnership. Busia is Arifund's own processing site; Namayingo operates in partnership with an artisanal miners cooperative.
SPEEDMINER mobile hard rock processing plant (2 tph, Phase 1). Fully mobile on trailers — no permanent construction. Mercury and cyanide free. Two-stage crushing, grinding circuit, and centrifugal concentrator beneficiation. Scales as throughput grows. Operated at both the Busia and Namayingo field sites in Phase 1.
Phase 1Partnership-based refining at LAVITT Park, Jinja — the refinery is co-located within the GoldX ADFC ecosystem, not at the field processing sites. Partnership arrangements with LBMA-grade refiners bring world-standard 99.99% purity output on site within the special economic zone.
Phase 1On-site fire assay and spectrometry laboratory for independent gold purity verification at every stage of processing.
Phase 1LBMA-certified on-site secure storage. Full insurance coverage and quarterly independent audit. Directly integrated with the tokenisation engine.
our LBMA-certified vault operatorPerimeter and electronic security infrastructure meeting the requirements of LBMA-approved custody operations and insurance standards.
Phase 1API oracle connecting vault inventory directly to token issuance. Investor web and mobile portal for primary issuance and secondary market access.
Phase 1The GoldX model is designed to replicate across Uganda's key gold-producing corridors following successful pilot operations and regulatory clearance.
Busia (own site): Arifund's own processing site in the Eastern Uganda gold corridor, on the Uganda–Kenya border.
Namayingo (ASM cooperative): Operating in partnership with a registered artisanal miners cooperative on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Plant: Mobile hard rock processing plant — 2 tph, mercury & cyanide free, scalable.
Refining: Concentrate from both sites is refined at the LAVITT Park refinery partnership, Jinja.
Regulatory: CMA Sandbox · FIA · MEMD · NEMA
Licences held: EL/0647 Yumbe · TN/EL/5528 Yumbe
Supply: Northern Uganda gold belt + DRC cross-border supply corridor
Processing: Additional mobile units — scaled throughput
Focus: Volume scale-up, institutional investor onboarding, expanded token issuance
Licences held: EL/0676 Ibanda · EL/0645 Kabarole · EL/0646 Buhweju
Minerals: Gold + polymetallic (Cu-Ni-Co-Zn deposits)
Focus: Pan-East-Africa expansion, strategic acquisitions, platform IPO / token exchange listing
GoldX is designed from the ground up for regulatory compliance across Uganda's financial, mining, and environmental frameworks — and is pursuing authorisation under the CMA Regulatory Sandbox as Uganda's first regulated gold tokenisation product.
| Regulator | Licence / Approval | Framework |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Markets Authority (CMA) | Regulatory Sandbox Authorisation | First Real-World Asset tokenisation in East Africa under CMA oversight. 24-month sandbox with consumer protection safeguards, monthly reporting, and joint oversight with FIA and BoU. On-ramp to full capital markets licence post-sandbox. |
| Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) | AML/CFT Compliance Framework | Automated KYC/AML compliance engine. Dedicated AML officer. Real-time transaction monitoring. FIA reporting integration at settlement layer. |
| Bank of Uganda (BoU) | Payment Systems — Reporting Integration | Cross-border settlement reporting aligned with BoU requirements. Integration with BoU's gold-purchasing programme for licensed Ugandan miners. |
| Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development (MEMD) | Gold Dealer's Licence · Mineral Licences | ARIFUND holds a portfolio of active mineral licences across Uganda — including Exploration Licences in Kabarole (EL/0645), Buhweju (EL/0646), Yumbe (EL/0647), Ibanda (EL/0676), a Transfer Notice Exploration Licence at Yumbe (TN/EL/5528), a Prospecting Licence (PL0000000749, valid through June 2026), and a Mineral Dealers Licence. Mining licence applications are in progress across key areas. |
| National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) | Environmental & Social Impact Assessment | ESIA process for Busia physical site. Environmental and community engagement requirements for processing plant installation and LAVITT Park refinery construction. |
| our LBMA-certified vault operator / LBMA | Custody Standards · Quarterly Audit | All physical gold held to LBMA Good Delivery standards. our LBMA-certified custodian provides custody, insurance, and independent quarterly physical audit of vault inventory against the token register. |
GoldX is structured with layered risk mitigation across regulatory, custody, technology, operational, market, and compliance dimensions.
CMA sandbox oversight with monthly regulatory reporting. Joint oversight structure with FIA and BoU. On-ramp provisions to full licence built into sandbox design.
our LBMA-certified vault operator insurance and LBMA-certified standards. Quarterly independent physical audit of vault inventory. Full insurance coverage at all times.
Independent security audit of the digital platform. Bug bounty programme. Technology provider SLA with performance commitments and CMA oversight.
EPC performance bonds on physical construction. Phased construction approach reducing execution risk. Experienced mineral development team with local operational track record.
Partial output hedging programme. Diversified revenue streams across processing, refining, custody, tokenisation, and settlement reduce single-source exposure.
Dedicated AML compliance officer. Automated real-time transaction monitoring. FIA-aligned reporting framework. Active kill criteria in sandbox phase to protect investors and consumers.