Burkina Faso plans to withdraw some mining permits

Burkina Faso plans to withdraw mining permits from some foreign companies and will seek to produce more of its own gold, junta leader Ibrahim Traore said on Saturday, without specifying which permits could be cancelled.

“We know how to mine our gold and I don’t understand why we’re going to let multinationals come and mine it,” Traore said in a radio address to mark two years since he seized power in a coup.

“In fact, we are going to withdraw mining permits,” he said. He did not specify which permits or provide further detail.

Gold is the main export of the West African country, where frustration over a long-running security crisis helped bring the junta to power in 2022. Since then, it has severed longstanding ties with Western allies and sought closer relations with Russia.

London-listed Endeavour Mining, Australia-based West African Resources, Russia’s Nordgold, and Canada’s Orezone Gold Corporation operate in Burkina Faso.

Operations have been complicated by growing insecurity. Despite the junta promising to contain groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State, the country saw a severe escalation of deadly attacks in 2023, with more than 8,000 people reportedly killed, according to U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group ACLED.