The adoption by the Council of Ministers on 16 March 2023 of the decree relinquishing the industrial exploitation permit for the large gold mine of the company Konkera SA in the commune of Batié, province of Noumbiel, South-West region, is the end of a long process which confirms the difficulties that the company Centamin Burkina Faso has experienced in exploiting the site.
The Burkinabe government granted the industrial exploitation permit for a large gold mine to the company Konkera SA, in the commune of Batié, Noumbiel province, South-West region on 05 March 2015 by decree N°2015-227/PRES-TRANS/PM/MME/MEF/MERH (Crisis between gold miners and police at the Konkera mine: one dead and 4 injured | Mines Actu Burkina). The permit covers an area of 64.34 km2 with a duration of 20 years but can be renewed for consecutive periods of 5 years until the deposits within the perimeter are exhausted. The permit, located 450 km from Ouagadougou, was held by Ampella Mining, which transferred it to Centramin. It was planned to build an open-pit mine, a processing plant, a maintenance unit, a power station, internal roads, a dam with a capacity of 1.5 million cubic metres, etc.
However, Konkera SA has had difficulty in starting construction of the mine due to the delay in the technical and economic work to finalise the project development plan. This delay had an impact on the raising of funds on the international financial market. Another difficulty encountered by Konkera SA is the delay by the State in signing the mining convention. Indeed, the mining convention was signed on 26 February 2019, i.e. 47 months after the exploitation permit was granted, whereas the decree governing the management of mining authorisations and titles indicates that the mining convention must be signed no later than 6 months after the permit was granted.
Another difficulty with this mining project is the limitation of financial resources devoted to the exploration activity. In view of all these difficulties, the company has decided to lay off some of its staff until the situation improves.
While waiting to solve its fundraising problems, several investors were interested in the permit before giving up. In view of the delay in the construction of the mine, the government has given several considerations to withdrawing the permit because Konkera SA did not respect the deadlines set for the construction of the mine.
Konkera SA’s difficulties do not end there. The mine has always had a difficult cohabitation with the gold miners installed on the perimeter of the mine. The last one was on 29 November 2022. Scuffles between gold miners living on the outskirts of the mine and the police guarding the mine resulted in casualties. According to the statement made by the Minister of Mines at the Council of Ministers meeting of 7 December 2022: “This confrontation unfortunately resulted in one death and three injuries on the side of the artisanal miners and the destruction of the installations at the site of the Konkera SA mining company’s base”.
When the government was considering withdrawing the permit for non-compliance with the law, Konkera SA submitted a request for renunciation which was examined by the National Mining Commission on 14 February 2023 before the file was forwarded to the Council of Ministers.
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