The Houndé Gold mining company was visited on Thursday 9 November 2023 by the Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries, Simon-Pierre Boussim, accompanied by his colleague in charge of security, Mahamadou Sana. The purpose of the visit was to take a closer look at working conditions at the mine.
Hounde Gold Opération SA is a subsidiary of Canadian company Endeavour Mining SA. It was inaugurated in 2017 and has 1,152 permanent employees and 1,755 subcontractors. It is the second-largest mine in Burkina Faso and, according to its Managing Director, Adama Savadogo, awards around a hundred work placements to local young people every year.
“The population of this province benefits enormously from this mining company through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and thanks to the local development mining fund and the surface tax”, said Souleymane Dianda, Chairman of the Houndé special delegation.
He added to his comments by mentioning the 7 billion FCFA that the commune has received to date from the Local Development Mining Fund. This has helped to improve health, education, water and the environment in Tuy province.
The Houndé Gold actors were not indifferent to this visit. They expressed their immense joy at having received this double visit. “It’s a real pleasure and an honour for us to welcome them so that they can get to grips with the realities of the mine, talk about the challenges and also the prospects,” said Souleymane Boly, Country Manager of Houndé Gold.
The company’s top executives took the opportunity to inform the two authorities of the difficulties encountered. These included the impact of the difficult security situation on their performance, and the difficult cohabitation with artisanal miners. Simon-Pierre Boussim, the minister responsible for the department, praised them for their resilience and team spirit. Finally, these two heads of department reassured the mine’s managers of the measures and prospects underway to alleviate their difficulties.
Moniratou BANDE
