SINGAPORE, SG, July 16, 2026 — AGE VAULT, an institutional-grade platform for Allocated Gold Entitlements (AGE), today announced a strategic technical engagement with SRK Consulting, a globally recognized independent mining and exploration consultancy, to strengthen independent verification, resource reporting discipline, and participant-facing disclosure for reviewed mine-direct gold placement programs.
Under the engagement, SRK will support AGE VAULT with independent exploration data review, verification program design, geological support, and JORC Code (2012)-aligned mineral resource reporting for a reviewed placer gold development program under evaluation. The work is structured in phased deliverables—from technical memoranda and verification standard operating procedures through competent-person sign-off on a JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate—so that platform disclosures reflect third-party technical review rather than issuer-only representations.
For AGE VAULT participants and prospective qualified users, the engagement is designed to deliver three practical safeguards. First, reviewed project materials published through the Client Office can be anchored to internationally recognized technical reporting standards (including JORC-aligned resource classification and QA/QC review), improving transparency around geology, sampling, and resource confidence. Second, SRK operates as an independent consultant without project equity, preserving arm’s-length diligence consistent with institutional mine-direct placement practice. Third, SRK is contracted at the front end of AGE VAULT’s mineral acquisition and development program—reviewing exploration data, verification design, and JORC-aligned resource reporting before assets underpin member placements. Where material deficiencies in SRK’s technical work arise from SRK’s own performance—such as errors in geological interpretation, sampling and QA/QC review, or resource estimation below accepted professional standards—AGE VAULT has defined recourse under the engagement, supported by institutional coverage up to AUD 20 million. That upstream accountability ensures exploration and resource-reporting risk is not transferred opaquely to platform participants.
“Credibility in mine-direct programs is won or lost at independent technical sign-off—long before capital reaches the Client Office,” said Alistair Sterling, Chief Operating Officer of AGE VAULT. “SRK holds the upstream mineral work to institutional standard; where accountability crystallizes under the engagement, restitution is designed to reach wallet-verified members through the same Ethereum distribution architecture that governs day-to-day entitlement operations.”
The engagement supports AGE VAULT’s broader platform architecture: contractual Allocated Gold Entitlements tied to future production and refining toward allocated physical gold (Au 99.99, LBMA-aligned), with pathways to physical redemption and permitted transfers under published rules. Independent technical review is intended to strengthen the evidence base behind reviewed tranche disclosures, live operational feeds where available, and resource statements shown in the Client Office—helping users evaluate placement risk with clearer third-party context before subscribing, redeeming, or transferring entitlements.
On-Chain Participant Restitution
Recoveries determined under the SRK engagement and received by AGE VAULT are distributed to members through Ethereum Mainnet smart contracts—a programmatic restitution channel that links upstream technical accountability to wallet-verified entitlement holders, rather than discretionary off-chain reconciliation alone.
The platform validates eligible cohorts from wallet linking, KYC clearance, and entitlement registry snapshots; sizes each member’s pro-rata share of the recovery pool; and settles to bound wallets under published rules. Implementation follows Ethereum account abstraction—along the ERC-4337 and EIP-7702 trajectory—using frame-style atomic eligibility-and-transfer sequences, Merkle-root cohort commitments for auditability, paymaster sponsorship to remove gas friction at distribution scale, keyed nonces for concurrent member settlements, and FOCIL-compatible submission so restitution traffic is treated as first-class network activity. The same contract rail supports AGE entitlement transfers, spot-liquidity workflows, and Client Office reporting.
For qualified members, this architecture is intended to separate platform operations and committed capital from unmitigated upstream mineral risk: where independent technical accountability under the SRK mandate produces recoveries, those proceeds can flow through to the wallets that hold platform exposure—complementing AGE VAULT’s segregation, audit-disclosed reporting, and fulfillment controls.
About AGE VAULT
Founded to bring institutional discipline to mine-direct gold placement, AGE VAULT operates globally through independent legal entities. The company structures and facilitates Allocated Gold Entitlements (AGE)—contractual claims tied to future production and refining at mine-direct placement levels, with pathways to physical redemption and institutional transfer for qualified participants. The platform emphasizes bullion-backed structure, segregated allocation, audit-disclosed reporting, and licensed fulfillment through the Authorized Service Provider network. Learn more at https://agevault.io.
About SRK Consulting
SRK Consulting is an independent, international group of consulting engineers and scientists serving the mining and exploration industry. Formed in 1974, SRK employs approximately 1,800 professionals across more than 40 offices worldwide. SRK provides specialized services including mineral resource estimation, due diligence, technical reporting, and exploration program design, and does not hold equity in client projects. Learn more at https://www.srk.com.