#Burkina Faso: conditions for gold marketing

The fundamental principle for the marketing of gold and other precious substances in Burkina Faso is the principle of prior authorisation. Any individual or legal entity wishing to engage in marketing activities must first hold an authorisation issued by the competent authority.

Marketing refers to acts or transactions involving gold and other precious substances in all their forms, including possession, holding, purchase, sale, exchange, transport, transit, processing, import and export (see Article 4 of the Law on the Marketing of Gold).

Therefore, acts of exploitation proper, which consist of the development or extraction of mineral substances from a deposit, are excluded from the scope of commercialisation.

Who can commercialise gold produced in Burkina Faso?

The following can commercialise gold in Burkina Faso: 

• The Industrial Exploitation Permit (PEI) entitles the holder to market the gold in and outside Burkina Faso. The gold is poured, weighed and packed in the presence of representatives of the public administration: BUMIGEB, DGMG, Customs (cf. Article 15 of the Law on Gold Marketing),
• Semi-Mechanised Exploitation Permits (PESM) entitle the holder to market their gold inside and outside Burkina Faso. Within Burkina Faso, marketing can only be done with ANEEMAS or the counters (Article 36 Decree N°2018-1017/PRES/PM/MMC/MINEFID/MEEVCC/MCIA/MATD/MSECU/MFPTPS, of 29/03/2018). PESM holders must keep internal sales, export and production records. (Article 3 decree 2018-236/MMC/SG of 12/11/2018) These registers shall be quoted and initialed by the territorially competent Commercial Court (cf. Article 29 of the Law on Gold Marketing).
• Artisanal production gold on licensed sites and on anarchic sites). For gold produced on sites with an Artisanal Exploitation Authorisation (AEA), all gold production is resold to the owner of the AEA or to ANEEMAS. (Article 26-1 of Law 028-2017/AN of 18/05/2017). AEA holders in turn are required to retrocede their entire collection to a gold buying counter or ANEEMAS (Article 26-2 of Law 028-2017/AN of 18/05/2017). For sites not covered by an AEA, all production is automatically controlled by ANEEMAS (Article 26-3 of Law 028-2017/AN of 18/05/2017). ANEEMAS then issues artisanal mining “collector” cards to individuals wishing to collect gold or other precious substances for its benefit.

What is a gold counter?

• A gold buying counter buys and sells artisanal and semi-mechanised gold. It is not allowed to buy or sell gold from industrial sites,
• The exercise of counter activities is conditional on obtaining an approval issued by interministerial decree signed by 3 ministers: the minister in charge of mines, the minister in charge of trade and the minister of finance (Article 1 and 2 of Decree N°2018-249/PRES/PM of 29/03/2018),
• Approval is only granted to legal entities under Burkinabe law whose exclusive purpose is the purchase, sale, transformation (smelting), transport, holding and export of artisanal and semi-mechanised gold. (Article 2 Decree N°2018-249/PRES/PM of 29/03/2018),
• The counter buys through declared buyers with valid cards. They can also purchase gold from ANEEMAS.
• The counters can sell the gold collected within Burkina Faso with ANEEMAS or with jewellers regularly established in Burkina Faso. The sale is authorised to jewellers upon presentation of a purchase authorisation issued by the DGMG. (Article 15 Decree N°2018-249/PRES/PM of 29/03/2018),
• Counters may export their collections. To do so, they are required to use the services of approved forwarding agents (Article 16 Decree N°2018-249/PRES/PM of 29/03/2018), to domicile export operations with an approved bank in Burkina Faso and to repatriate all funds from the export sale within one month from the date payment is due (Article 17 Decree N°2018-249/PRES/PM of 29/03/2018),
• They must also, within six (06) months of the issuance of the licence, have appropriate facilities for processing gold and other precious substances into their marketable form (Article 13 Decree N°2018-249/PRES/PM of 29/03/2018),

Finally, they are required to use reliable weighing equipment certified by the metrology services and to keep sales, purchase and export registers (Article 30 of Law 028-2017/AN of 18/05/2017). These registers are initialled by the National Gold Anti-Fraud Brigade (BNAF) (Article 12 of Decree N°2018-249/PRES/PM of 29/03/2018),

They are obliged to sell for export or domestically for each calendar year at least twenty (20) kilograms of gold. Failing this, the mining royalty corresponding to this minimum quantity shall be paid.

Composition of the application for the granting of a gold counter

Send a file of 8 copies to the Ministry of Mines, including:

• An application stamped at 200 FCFA containing the full address,
• A registered lease contract or a title of ownership of the premises housing the headquarters,
• A copy of the company’s statutes,
• A legalized copy of the trade and real estate credit register,
• A legalized copy of the IFU number,
• A certificate of tax status,
• A certificate of contributory status from the CNSS,
• A certificate of non-bankruptcy,
• A bank statement (RIB)
• A certificate of non engagement issued by the State Judicial Agency (AJE),
• A copy of the receipt for payment of the 10,000 FCFA application fee issued by the revenue officer,

The approval is granted for a period of 3 years after the technical opinion of the approval commission.

Obtaining approval is conditional on:

• The payment of an approval fee of 5 million FCFA;
• The constitution of a deposit of 5 million FCFA.

Elie KABORE

Mines_Actu_Burkina

References of the quoted texts:

• Law N°028-2017/AN of 18 May 2017 on the organisation of the marketing of gold and other precious substances in Burkina Faso,
• Decree n°2018-249/PRES/PM/MMC/ MINEFID/MCIA of 29 March 2018 on the conditions for granting and renewing licences for the marketing of gold and other precious substances produced by artisanal and semi-mechanised producers;