Burkina Faso has awarded an industrial mining permit to state-owned miner SOPAMIB for the Bouboulou gold project, according to a statement, advancing the military-led government’s push for greater state control of the mining sector.
Military-led governments across the Sahel and in neighbouring Guinea have increasingly favoured state-owned mining companies as they seek larger returns from their mineral wealth.
SOPAMIB, Burkina Faso’s state miner, lay dormant after its 2014 creation until 2024 reforms revived it for direct mine development.
Burkina Faso’s Council of Ministers said on Thursday that a subsidiary of SOPAMIB named SOPAMIB Bouboulou would develop the gold mine in the country’s north-central Yako commune.
Mines Minister Yacouba Zabre Gouba called the project “a revolution”, breaking with a model that left mining development largely to private operators.
The project will require more than 32 billion CFA francs ($56.1 million) in investment and is expected to operate for over 15 years, the government said, without detailing funding plans.
The mine will produce more than 7 metric tons of gold and generate more than 39 billion CFA francs in direct revenue, excluding dividends, over its life, the statement said.
It will also create and sustain about 1,200 direct and indirect jobs, it said.
Burkina Faso is a major African gold producer, with mines operated by Endeavour, IAMGOLD, West African Resources and Nordgold, among others.
($1 = 570.0000 CFA francs)
(Reporting by Burkina Faso Newsroom; Writing by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Jan Harvey)
