The commune of Gogo in the Center-South region will host a “significant” industrial gold mine with an estimated mineral reserve of 144 tonnes of gold, said on Saturday, the governor from the region, Yvette Nacoulma.

“The rural commune of Gogo will experience the establishment of one of the major industrial gold mines in the Center-South region or even in Burkina Faso,” the governor of the Center-South region announced on Saturday. south, Yvette Nacoulma.

Mrs. Nacoulma who intervened during a meeting of exchanges with the living forces confided that the project represents “a great opportunity for the socio-economic development” of the region and hence of the whole country.

In the presentation on the said project made by Dr. Christian Ouédraogo, KIAKA-SA bought by B2Gold which was then bought by West African Resources is the company holding the operating permit responsible for carrying it out over an area of approximately 2075 hectares.

According to Mr. Ouédraogo, the implementation of the project knows the participation of the Burkinabè State as a shareholder at a rate of 10% in accordance with the regulatory text.

The Kiaka gold mine has a life of 18 years with an estimated mineral reserve of around 144 tonnes of gold and an average annual production of 5.8 tonnes of gold in prospect, he said.

“For the investment cost of the Kiaka mining project, we will need to mobilize 256 billion CFA francs to be able to build this mine”, confided the communicator.

He specifies that 1500 people will be recruited during the construction phase and 1300 people during the operationalization period with particular emphasis on gender and on the affected communities estimated at 522 households or about 3862 people.

To also reduce the environmental and socio-economic consequences that the establishment of the mine could cause, the company intends to respect the texts in force and make investments in several areas for the benefit of the host municipality and the region, noted the doctor Christian Ouedraogo.

“We are impatiently awaiting the finalization of the project and the official opening of this mine”, confided, at the end of the exchanges, Moussa Soubané, a national of the Center-South.

For the governor of the region, Yvette Nacoulma, the debate around the question of the implementation of the KIAKA mining project among the subjects on the menu of exchanges with the living forces was useful and important. “We would like, in this sense, an appropriation of this project by all the actors in our region”, she explained, insisting, moreover, on the good results of the initiative for the benefit of the populations and the regional economy.

The KIAKA mine reinforces mining activity in the Center-South region, marked above all by artisanal mining with some six gold panning sites operational to date, according to data from the 2018-2022 Regional Development Plan.

On the scale of the country, in recent years, gold production in Burkina Faso has experienced a boom, making gold the leading export product, thus taking the place formerly occupied by cotton.

Source: Burkina Information Agency