Burkina Faso is poised to increase its industrial gold mining this year as a project by Mauritius’s Soleil Resources International rises to full production and a new mine by Australia’s West African Resources starts output later this year.
Production by the country’s large-scale operations will increase by 4% to 55.7 tons this year, Aristide Belemsobgo, director general of mines and geology at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Quarries said in an interview.
Gold has been identified as Burkina Faso’s main source of export revenue by junta leader Ibrahim Traore, who came to power following a 2022 coup. Still, production has suffered in recent years as deteriorating security conditions in the West African nation forced some mines to shut.
Soleil Resources returned the Youga mine in the south to production in October, Belemsobgo said. West African Resources’ Kiaka mine, situated in the southeast, is on schedule for first gold in the third quarter, he said, confirming an earlier update from the company.
Belemsobgo declined to give an outlook on artisanal gold mining. Last year, small-scale mines produced 8.1 tons, bringing combined national output of 61.5 tons, he said.
The increased output could help provide the funds for Traore to fight an Islamist insurgency that’s worsening in the West African country, after it cut ties with most of its western partners and drew closer to Russia. Gold prices have risen this year to record levels.
Burkina Faso’s junta revised the country’s mining code in 2023 to enable it to receive more in royalties during boom times.