Madar (Conakry) - Guinean authorities on Sunday, November 1, 2026, inaugurated the country's first gold refinery, the Nimba Gold Refinery in Conakry, after Guinea had long exported its gold raw, whether from industrial or artisanal mines, RFI reported on Monday.
"For centuries, Guinea has mined and exported gold in its raw state. While our country is among the major gold producers in West Africa, the value added by refining did not benefit our country. Today, that era is over," Mines Minister Bouna Sylla said, according to RFI. He said Guinea could buy up to 30% of the gold produced by companies at industrial and semi-industrial mines to refine it locally.
Guinea follows Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana, which have opened refineries in recent years, while Cote d'Ivoire is expected to open one in 2027, RFI said.
But of the 70 tonnes of gold Guinea exported in 2025, about 50 came from artisanal mines. Oumar Totiya Barry, director of the Guinean Observatory of Mines and Metals, told RFI that a large share of that output "still escapes the control of the mining administration and sometimes crosses nearby borders fraudulently, towards Mali or other countries."
Authorities suspended artisanal gold mining last week, officially for environmental reasons, and observers say the government may use the opportunity to reorganise the sector. Guinea had earlier forecast 200 million tonnes of bauxite exports and an alumina refinery.
