Burkina Faso inaugurates its first gold refinery, RAFFINOR-BF

Burkina Faso has inaugurated its first gold refinery, RAFFINOR-BF, as the West African nation pushes to keep more value from its minerals at home (MINING.COM).

President Captain Ibrahim Traore opened the state-controlled plant on Monday at a ceremony in the Ouaga 2000 district of Ouagadougou, on its five-hectare site. Built for 11 billion CFA francs — about $19 million — the refinery was financed by the state through the National Precious Substances Company (SONASP) with private partners (CDR Africa).

It has an initial capacity of 164 tonnes of gold a year, with a planned second phase raising that to 515 tonnes. Managing Director Adama Sawadogo said the modular plant will turn doré from industrial and artisanal mines into fine-gold bars of 99.9 per cent purity. The complex includes a foundry, analysis laboratory, secure storage, a jewellery unit and SONASP’s headquarters, and officials forecast about 100 direct and more than 5,000 indirect jobs (The Peninsula/Xinhua).

Traore received the first bar fully refined in the country. “Our ambition goes beyond gold,” he said. “We want to make the mining sector a driver of industrial transformation.” The move follows regional peers: Guinea banned raw-gold exports in June, Ghana curbed unrefined exports this month, Mali is building a refinery with Russia’s Yadran Group, and Ivory Coast plans one for next year (Radio Generation).

Gold — Burkina Faso’s leading export ahead of cotton — yielded 94 tonnes in 2025, according to the mining ministry.