The head of the junta claims that Burkina Faso intends to revoke several mining permits

Ibrahim Traore, the chairman of the junta, stated on Saturday that Burkina Faso intends to take back mining permissions from certain international businesses and will work to produce more of its own gold. He did not specify which permits might be revoked.

“We understand how to mine our gold, so why are we going to allow multinationals to mine it?” Traore said in a radio speech commemorating two years since he took over the country in a coup.

“In fact, we are going to withdraw mining permits,” he stated. He did not go into additional depth or explain which permits.

The nation in West Africa, where a protracted security crisis contributed to the junta’s ascent to power in 2022, exports mostly gold. It has now broken long-standing relationships with Western friends in an effort to forge stronger ties with Russia.

Burkina Faso is home to operations of Canada’s Orezone Gold Corporation, Russia’s Nordgold, Australia’s West African Resources, and London-listed Endeavour Mining.

Growing insecurity has complicated operations. A U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group called ACLED claims that more than 8,000 people were killed in the country in 2023, despite the junta’s pledge to control factions associated with the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.