Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery as the military-led government moves to process more of its mineral wealth locally and increase state control over the mining sector.
Junta leader Ibrahim Traoré said the refinery was part of a broader effort to end the country’s dependence on exporting raw materials for processing abroad.
“We want to refine all our metals on site… we want to have the entire value chain on site,” he said at the plant’s inauguration in the capital, Ouagadougou, on Monday.
Burkina Faso is one of Africa’s biggest gold producers, but authorities have struggled to regulate the country’s informal mining sector, which has also been affected by jihadist violence.
The government hopes the new facility will help turn the landlocked country into a regional gold-refining hub.
The refinery, known as Raffinor-BF, cost more than 11bn CFA francs ($19m; £14m), according to the presidency.
The project was financed by the state, including through the National Precious Metals Company (Sonasp), in partnership with Burkina Faso’s private sector.
The plant will initially be capable of refining 164 tonnes of gold a year, significantly more than Burkina Faso’s current annual production. The government says its eventual capacity could rise to 515 tonnes, suggesting the facility could also process gold from other countries in the region.
“This is the day we take back the keys to our own house,” Mines Minister Yacouba Zabré Gouba said at the opening.
“Our gold will no longer be used to create added value for others while our people remain in need.”
The refinery is the latest step in Traoré’s efforts to increase state control over Burkina Faso’s natural resources and reduce its economic dependence on foreign companies and former Western partners.
Since taking power in a coup in September 2022, the 38-year-old army captain has promoted an economic agenda focused on domestic production and greater state control of strategic industries.
His government has increased its involvement in the mining sector and introduced measures to reorganise the trade in artisanal gold.
Foreign mining firms are now required to give the state a 15% stake in their operations and train local workers.
The authorities also suspended exports of gold produced by artisanal and semi-mechanised mines in 2024, saying the move was intended to improve regulation of the sector.
The World Gold Council said Burkina Faso’s gold output rose by 17% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, helped by increased production at several mines.
However, smuggling and informal trading have made it difficult for authorities to account for all the gold produced by the country’s extensive artisanal and small-scale mining industry.
The government has also alleged that some illegally traded gold helps finance the Islamist insurgency that has affected much of the country.
Traoré has previously accused smugglers of taking large quantities of gold out of Burkina Faso illegally and said some of the proceeds were helping finance militant groups.
The refinery forms part of a wider government campaign to process more commodities domestically rather than export them in raw form.
Traoré has presented such projects as evidence of Burkina Faso becoming more economically self-reliant, alongside investments in cotton, textiles and food processing.
The government says the new plant should eventually be capable of refining all the gold produced by Burkina Faso’s industrial mines and artisanal miners.
Burkina Faso is not alone in seeking to increase domestic gold processing. Guinea and Ghana have restricted exports of unrefined gold, while Mali is building its first refinery with help from a Russian firm. Ivory Coast also plans to open a refinery next year.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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