In 2018, Kian Smith was awarded the first gold refinery license in Nigeria. With this, the minerals trading company set out on an ambitious mission to build the first gold refinery in the country. With eyes set on the larger African gold mining industry, Kian Smith engaged Arden & Newton to help build the brand into the most reputable and respected brand in the industry.
Arden & Newton designed an elaborate reputation management & Communication mix that ensured that the brand easily became a household name beyond the mining industry.
Within a 10 month period of engagement, the company has benefited from close to $1m in earned media, being featured on global media outlets like Reuters, Bloomberg, FT, Aljazeera, CNBC Africa, TheNerve Africa, ENCA etc and locally on BusinessDay, Thisday, ChannelsTV, Guardian, Punch.
Launching Out
In 2018, we worked with Kian Smith to execute an official groundbreaking event that had high-level government participation. We managed press and strategic communications as part of the official outing which saw Kian Smith gain huge local and international media coverage.
What success looks like.




Engaging and Enlightening the Investor Community
The gold mining industry in Nigeria is one of the least understood, and Kian Smith needed to get prospective investors to better understand the industry and its potentials.
Our team traveled up north to spend some time with artisanal miners to better understand their activities while documenting and filming the entire value chain. We captured the crude processes involved in extracting the gold and preparing it for refining.


Content from this was turned into an elaborately produced and curated photo exhibition for prospective investors with the theme: The Gold Rush: A Visual Journey and Alchemy.









