• President Traoré signals plan to expand state role in gold exploitation

• New mining code allows state to raise free stake to 15% and buy 30% more

• Burkina Faso eyes 50% in Kiaka mine after moves on Boungou and Wahgnion

Burkina Faso’s government plans to continue tightening its grip on gold mining, President Ibrahim Traoré said on September 28, during a wide-ranging interview with local media broadcast on national television.

“The government’s approach is to exploit our gold ourselves. There are mines we have already taken over, and we will continue to gradually take control or co-exploit with companies already operating here,” Traoré said, criticizing past partnership models with multinational miners.

The statement follows the adoption of a new mining code in 2024. The law raised the state’s free minimum stake in mines to 15% from 10% and introduced an option for the government to buy at least 30% additional interest in gold projects.

In line with this policy, the government recently applied to acquire a 35% stake in the Kiaka gold mine. If successful, Ouagadougou would hold 50% of the mine, which began production at the end of June 2025. After the disclosure in late August, the mine’s Australian owner, West African Resources, suspended its stock market listing amid growing concerns among operators in Burkina Faso.

At the Africa Down Under conference earlier this month in Australia, Mamadou Sagnon, head of the country’s mining cadastre, sought to reassure investors, stressing that the law provides an option rather than an obligation. Still, Traoré’s latest remarks have renewed uncertainty.

In 2024, Burkina Faso reclaimed the Boungou and Wahgnion gold mines. Both had been operated by Endeavour Mining before being sold to Lilium Mining, owned by US-Burkinabè businessman Simon Tiemtoré. The assets became the subject of a dispute that the government later resolved.