Burkina Faso has inaugurated its first gold refinery as the military-led government seeks to process more of the country’s mineral wealth locally and retain greater value from its gold industry. President Ibrahim Traoré inaugurated the RAFFINOR-BF refinery in Ouagadougou on September 28. The facility cost more than 11 billion CFA francs (about $19 million) and was financed mainly by the state through the National Precious Substances Company (SONASP), alongside private-sector partners. The refinery has an initial capacity to process 164 tones of gold annually, with plans to expand to 515 tones. It includes a foundry, gold-testing laboratory, secure storage facilities and a jewelry unit, with the plant designed to produce high-purity gold bars.
Traoré said the project is part of a broader drive to move beyond exporting raw minerals and develop more of the mining value chain inside Burkina Faso. The government also aims to position the country as a regional refining center capable of processing gold from across West Africa. Burkina Faso is one of Africa’s major gold producers. The World Gold Council reported that the country’s gold mine production increased by 17% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, driven partly by higher output at several mining operations.
The expansion comes as authorities seek tighter control over the gold sector, including informal and small-scale mining, where smuggling and unregulated trading have made it difficult to track production and revenue. The government has also linked illegal gold trading to financing for armed Islamist groups operating in parts of the country. Burkina Faso has faced a prolonged security crisis involving groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State. The new refinery is therefore expected to play both an economic and regulatory role, allowing authorities to increase domestic processing, improve oversight and retain more value from the country’s gold production.
