Burkina Faso Opens First National Gold Refinery

Burkina Faso will take a decisive step toward greater control of its mineral wealth on Monday when President Ibrahim Traoré inaugurates the country’s first gold refinery in Ouagadougou.

The facility, known as RAFFINOR-BF, sits on a five-hectare site in the Ouaga 2000 district.

Officials describe it as a landmark in the government’s drive to process more of the nation’s gold at home rather than shipping raw doré bars abroad for refining in places such as Switzerland and Dubai.

For decades Burkina Faso, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s leading gold producers, exported the bulk of its output with little value added domestically. The new plant is designed to change that. It can process up to 400 kilograms of gold a day—roughly 150 tonnes a year—and refine the metal to 99.99 percent purity, meeting the international “Good Delivery” standard.

Beyond refining, the complex includes an analytical laboratory, a smelter, secure on-site storage, a jewellery workshop and administrative buildings that will house the headquarters of the National Precious Substances Company (SONASP). Authorities say the project will create about 100 direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect ones.

Construction was launched with fanfare on 23 November 2023 when Captain Traoré laid the foundation stone. The semi-state-owned Raffinor, developed in partnership with Malian firm Marena Gold, is now ready for official opening after more than two and a half years of work.

The timing is significant. Burkina Faso produced more than 94 tonnes of gold in 2025, according to official figures, placing it among the top producers in the region. Gold remains the country’s dominant export and a critical source of foreign exchange and state revenue. By refining the metal locally, the government aims to capture a larger share of the value chain, improve transparency over production volumes and grades, and strengthen national reserves.

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The refinery forms part of a broader sovereignty agenda that has included higher state equity in mining projects, the creation of the state mining company SOPAMIB, greater formalisation of artisanal production through SONASP, and the development of fully state-owned mines.

Officials present RAFFINOR-BF as the missing link that will allow Burkina Faso to turn its gold from a raw commodity into a finished product processed on its own soil.

“The gold of Burkina is refined in Burkina,” the Ministry of Mines has declared. On Monday that slogan will become concrete policy.