Colombia cartel ties taint Canadian Mint gold

A New York Times investigation found that some gold refined by the Royal Canadian Mint was mixed by a Texas supplier with Colombian gold linked to the Clan del Golfo cartel. The Mint said about 5% of the raw gold it refined last year came from that US supplier and that it relied on the supplier’s due diligence; it has since halted acceptance of Colombian gold and opened an incident review. The revelations undermine the Mint’s responsible-sourcing claims and may prompt tighter disclosure and supplier oversight (the Mint plans to publish country-of-origin listings). Market impact is reputational and operational — potential tightening of supply chains, increased compliance costs and investor caution around Canadian-refined bullion, though no immediate price shock was indicated.