FILE PHOTO: A shovel scoops up earth at a gold mine site in northern Burkina Faso. REUTERS/Katrina Manson/File Photo

DAKAR, July 10 (Reuters) – 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)