• Mali begins building gold refinery with Russia’s Yadran; key project details remain undisclosed.

• Refinery capacity exceeds Mali’s output; neighbors have their own refining plans.

• No word on LBMA certification, key for global gold market access.

Malian President Assimi Goïta on Monday, June 16, laid the foundation stone for the country’s future national gold refinery. With a planned capacity of 200 tons per year, the facility aims to process all of Mali’s gold production as well as that of some neighboring countries. While Bamako touts the project as a way to make the country’s gold “shine for all Malians,” the initiative, developed in partnership with Russian firm Yadran, raises several questions.

Concerns include immediate and practical details such as the project’s cost and the timeline for its commissioning. On these points, the government has remained silent. Mali’s state television, in a broadcast covering the groundbreaking ceremony, attributed the lack of detail to “geopolitical and geostrategic” considerations. Beyond its production capacity, the only confirmed element is the refinery’s ownership structure.

According to a cabinet communiqué from May 28, the facility will be 62% owned by the Malian government and 38% by Yadran. However, it remains unclear whether both parties will contribute to construction costs in line with their respective stakes. The Malian presidency merely stated that Yadran, which is primarily active in the oil sector, will provide “technical expertise, training support, and long-term maintenance for the industrial unit.”

Another unresolved issue is supply. Officially, Bamako wants all gold extracted in Mali to be refined domestically. Yet according to government figures, Mali’s gold production is under 80 tons annually, a figure well below half the projected capacity of the refinery. As for gold-producing neighbors, most have their refinery projects. Ghana already operates several, while Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Niger are planning their facilities.

Additionally, Mali’s declared gold output comes mainly from industrial mines operated by international firms, including B2Gold, Resolute, Robex, and Barrick. These companies currently ship their output to major global refining hubs. In 2023, Mali’s Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) report revealed that over 85% of the country’s gold exports were bound for South Africa, Switzerland, and Australia.

These countries host refineries that meet the standards of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). South Africa is notably the only African nation with an LBMA-certified refinery. The LBMA’s “Good Delivery List” is a de facto passport for gold bars, granting access to the London market, which is the world’s top precious metals trading hub.

As of now, the list includes 66 refineries that processed 5,038 tonnes of gold in 2020–2021, roughly 63% of newly mined global output, according to the LBMA. Without such accreditation, a refinery’s gold bars are ineligible for central bank vaults, gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or the London market, and these typically sell at a discount.

So far, the Malian government has not indicated whether it intends to pursue LBMA accreditation. Such certification requires a facility to operate for at least five years, maintain three years of uninterrupted commercial production, refine at least 10 tonnes of gold annually, and undergo annual traceability audits.