The control package in the enterprise belongs to the Mali state. Construction is carried out in cooperation with the Russian group Jadran and the Swiss investment company. The new factory will be located in Sena, near the capital of the Bamako country.
According to the president of Mali, Colonel Assimi Goity launching your own processing company will be a step towards restoring state control over natural resources. – Since 1980, all gold extracted in Mali is exported to processing abroad, to the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Switzerland. This deprives the country of significant income that could be used for the development of the economy – Goita emphasized during the foundation of the foundations of the plant.
As explained by President Jadran Irek Salichow, the plant in Sena is to be a regional processing center not only of Malian gold, but also raw materials from neighboring countries, such as Burkina Faso. Earlier, in 2024, Col. Goita has already announced the intention to oblige all mining companies to process gold in the country – in accordance with the updated mining code. This step reflects a wider regional trend: similar reforms are already implemented in Guinea, Niger and Burkina Faso. All these countries change their approach to extracting raw materials to increase export income, notes the Reuters agency.
Although the exact date of completion of the construction has not yet been announced, the authorities expect that after reaching full production capacity, the plant will be able to process all gold production in Mali, transforming them into standard bars before shipping for export. At the same time, the plant's production capacity will be almost four times exceeding the current level of gold mining in the country. According to Goit, the establishment of the plant will not only reduce budget losses resulting from the export of the raw material without processing, but also ensure more effective control over the extraction and export of gold.
Currently, Mali, like many other countries of the region, loses billions of dollars a year due to large -scale smuggling, including due to the lack of certified processing plants and production tracking system. Although West Africa is one of the largest gold producers in the world, so far there was not a single operating processing plant recognized on the international arena. Similar attempts were made, among others in Ghana, the main producer of gold on the continent, but they did not bring success.
