BURKINA Faso plans to withdraw mining permits from some foreign companies and will seek to produce more of its own gold, said Reuters citing comments by the country’s junta leader Ibrahim Traore on Saturday.
Traore did not specify which permits could be cancelled, the newswire said.
Shares shares in West African Resources, which aims to mine about 200,000 ounces of gold from the country this year, plummeted nearly 19.5% in Australia. Shares in London-listed Endeavour Mining, which operates the country’s 300,000 oz/year Houndé mine, fell about 5%.
“We know how to mine our gold and I don’t understand why we’re going to let multinationals come and mine it,” Traore said in a radio address to mark two years since he seized power in a coup.
“In fact, we are going to withdraw mining permits,” he said. He did not specify which permits or provide further detail.
Burkina Faso has a vibrant gold sector with a number of mining companies operating there including Russia’s Nordgold, and Canada’s Orezone Gold Corporation, said Reuters.
West African Resources (WAF) said in a statement today it was not aware of the government planning to pull any of the mining permits granted to it.
“President Traore has spoken previously about taking action against miners who have not adhered to the Mining Code and also regulating the semi-mechanised and artisanal mining sectors,” it said.
“The government remains supportive of WAF’s position in Burkina Faso as demonstrated by recent positive interactions between WAF and the government last month,” it said. West African Resources added discussions regarding Burkina Faso’s mining code earlier this year had been “constructive”.
In August, Burkina Faso nationalised two mines previously sold by Endeavour Mining to a private company in the country, Lilium Mining. After Lilium failed to pay for the Boungou and Wahgnion mines, it was agreed they would be transferred to the west African state for $60m in cash due to Endeavour.
The first $30m had since been paid, said Endeavour in a statement on Monday afternoon, adding that it “… remains a trusted partner to the Government of Burkina Faso” and that it was “… not currently aware of any plans to revoke any of its mining permits”.
Gold is the main export of the West African country, where frustration over a long-running security crisis helped bring the junta to power in 2022. Since then, it has severed longstanding ties with Western allies and sought closer relations with Russia, said Reuters.
Operations have been complicated by growing insecurity. Despite the junta promising to contain groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State, the country saw a severe escalation of deadly attacks in 2023, with more than 8,000 people reportedly killed, said Reuters citing US-based crisis-monitoring group, ACLED.
