Simon-Pierre Boussim, Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, paid a guided visit to the site of the Burkina Faso Bureau of Mines and Geology (Bureau des Mines et de la Géologie du Burkina Faso – BUMIGEB) in Gaoua, as part of the Artisanal Miners’ Day (Journée de l’Artisan minier – JAM) activities. The purpose of the visit was to find out about the data available on the site.
“This BUMIGEB site contains information on a number of years of research at the Gaoua copper and gold site. It’s very interesting for us to get our hands on the data that exists here”, said Simon-Pierre Boussim, Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries. According to him, this visit also provides an opportunity to communicate about what he calls the State’s mining assets, as people have invested over a number of years to produce this data, which become like State property. “If a buyer shows up on this site, he’s not going to start work from scratch, because the data already exists and we can sell it to him to enable him to continue the research,” he added.
“The data is subsoil information on geology and also mining potential,” explains BUMIGEB Managing Director Gueswindé Samuel Djiguemdé. He points out that his company stores geological and mining data at the Gaoua site. The data is in the form of samples (crushed rock and core samples). They come from a series of sites on which the companies have worked and gathered information. Instead of leaving this information in the field, they preferred to create this framework to store information that can be used at any time.
“For us, this is first and foremost a point of satisfaction. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the chief of the Gaoua canton, who has made this site available to the company so that we can store the data”, explained the minister. He encourages all companies conducting research to keep the data, which will revert to the State if they stop their work. On the other hand, he hopes that these companies will be able to continue their work right through to exploitation.
BUMIGEB’s Gaoua copper and gold site began storing data in 1928, 95 years ago.
Y G
#Mines_Actu_Burkina
