The ceremony to launch construction work on the national gold refinery took place on 23 November 2023. Simon Pierre Boussim, Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, read the speech by the President of the Transition.
In his view, Burkina Faso, once considered a country with few natural resources, has in just a few years become a mining country, with gold as its leading export product. In terms of statistics, he reported that by 31 December 2022, the country had 11 industrial gold mines, with production totalling 57.674 tonnes. Declared artisanal gold production was 457 kg in 2022, compared with 266 kg in 2021.
Direct revenue to the State budget will rise from 430.916 billion FCFA in 2021 to 540.984 billion FCFA in 2022, an increase of 110.068 billion FCFA.
Since 2009, gold has become our country’s leading export product. The latest statistics for 2022 show that gold export revenues rose to 2099.1 billion FCFA, or 73.86% of export revenues. “These figures, which clearly place our country in the ranks of mining countries, call on us as decision-makers to take strong action to enhance the sector’s value,” he said.
He explains the development of the extractive industry by “on the one hand, the legislative and regulatory measures taken to encourage investment in the mining sector and, on the other hand, the rise in the price of gold”.
However, he insists, “despite the scale of its gold production, Burkina Faso does not yet have a gold refinery. All refining operations are carried out outside the country”.
With this in mind, the transition has taken steps to improve the contribution of industrial gold mining to the country’s economic development by setting up industrial processing units. “Indeed, the transition has taken the view that such industrial units should help to promote the mining industry’s value chain at national level, while limiting the export of a large proportion of our gold in its raw state. They should also help to combat the persistence of fraud in the sector”, according to the Minister of Mines.
With this in mind, the construction of a national gold refinery was authorised by the Council of Ministers on 5 April 2023.
“This major project will be carried out as part of a strategic partnership with MARENA GOLD company, which already has a refinery in Mali. The refinery will have a refining capacity of 400 kilograms/day and will be built on an area of five (05) hectares. This refinery, which could become the home of gold, is a complex that also includes a jewellery store, storage warehouses, security premises and administrative buildings, including the future headquarters of the National precious substances company (Société nationale des substances précieuses – SONASP),” explains Simon Pierre Boussim.
Construction work is due to be completed in a few months’ time, and the first refined 24-carat gold ingots are expected in 11 months’ time. Similarly, the first gold ingots from the tailings treatment unit will be available by the end of 2024.
This ambitious project has become a reality thanks to the determination of the transition, but also and above all thanks to the support of the population for this same transition and its strong capacity for resilience.
The Minister concluded: “We would like to thank our partner for believing in this project and, above all, for agreeing to work alongside the State to bring it to fruition. A milestone has just been reached and several others are still to come. We encourage him to speed up the project, while assuring him of our availability and support to facilitate its completion”.
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