Russia has another license to extract gold in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso's military authorities awarded the Russian company Nordgold another license to extract gold in Niiu in the province of Kourweogo in the central part of the country – the government of this country informed this weekend.

Earlier, in 2022, Junta had already granted Nordgold permission to exploit the Yimiougou deposit with an area of ​​31.4 km2.

Junta, headed by Captain Ibrahim Traore since 2022, hopes that cooperation with Russia will strengthen its economy thanks to the record high gold prices. Burkina Faso estimates that this project will bring over $ 100 million.

The license covers 52.8 sq m of land, and the total expected production is to exceed 20.2 tons of gold in eight years of its duration.

Gold has become the main export commodity of Burkina Faso, where in 17 mines he is extracted annually, according to the NGO Swissaid, dealing with mining, about 60 tons of this ore.

The areas transferred for operation can be found in the craft mining zone, which will most likely displace many local miners, for whom this is the only source of income.

Previous practices of Russians extracting gold in the Central African Republic show that the Kremlin tries to keep local miners away from the mine he took over. Torture, intimidation and demonstration executions are on the agenda.

Burkina Faso broke the previous ties with the West and opened to cooperation with Russia. First of all, the military, which was the arrival of the first Russian soldiers in the autumn of 2023. They were to support the junta in the fight against Salafi-Dziihadist groups, which terrorize not only the inhabitants of Burkin Faso, but made this country a center from which they attack neighboring Togo and Benin, and ghana and ivory coast made asylum for their wounded fighters and a reservoir from which they recruit new ones.

The Russian military presence has not much helped Captain Traore, Burkina Faso for several years, has been the country's most experienced by the terrorist attacks in the world and there is one fifth of all deaths due to terrorism in the world. (PAP)

tebe/ mms/ pr/