The Canadian miner Endeavor has sold 200 kilograms of gold to Burkina Faso, according to the nation’s energy and mines ministry on Tuesday.
The ministry stated in a statement that the choice to purchase gold from the Mana mine was made in the public interest and that the company would receive full payment.
According to a statement by government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo, “The decision to requisition gold is dictated by an exceptional context of public necessity, which requires the state to ask certain mining companies to sell some of their gold production.”
A universal way to add to reserves is to buy foreign currency with gold.
Sanctions brought on by two army takeovers last year and the struggle against a militant insurgency in the north and east of the nation have severely hurt Burkina Faso’s finances.
The largest gold producer in the Sahelian nation is Endeavor, which has its headquarters in the UK.
The transaction, according to Burkinabe authorities, was unique and only temporary, and it had been carried out in accordance with the laws governing the trade in gold.
The government wanted to “reassure investors and all other partners of Burkina Faso” on Wednesday night.
As of 2022, the Mana gold mine, which has been operating since March 2008, produced 6.04 tons of gold.
Endeavor Mining owns it, and in 2020 it merged with Canada’s Semafo to form one of West Africa’s largest gold producers.
