Top gold producer Burkina Faso opens first refinery - Free Malaysia Today

AI desk brief

Burkina Faso has opened its first gold refinery in Ouagadougou, with the state-backed RAFFINOR-BF facility starting up in a country that produced more than 94 tonnes of gold last year, according to the World Gold Council. The refinery has stated annual capacity of 164 tonnes, with a long-term target of 515 tonnes, and comes as the government tries to curb informal mining, smuggling and gold outflows from jihadist-hit areas.

The move fits Captain Ibrahim Traore’s broader push to nationalise more of the sector and keep more value-added processing at home. Burkina Faso also suspended exports of gold from informal mining in 2024, so the near-term market impact is more about regional supply-chain control and headline geopolitical risk than any immediate shift in global bullion balances.