Gold miners ignore military coup in Burkina Faso, sustain operations

Endeavour Mining’s operations in Burkina Faso have ignored the military coup and continued operations in Burkina Faso. The gold miners aid on Monday that they are “unaffected by recent political events”, in the West African country after the second military coup of the year last Friday.

Endeavour is the biggest mining company in Burkina Faso, with four gold mines – Houndé, Mana, Boungou, and Wahgnion – and two exploration projects.

The company has mines in Senegal and Ivory Coast, but its Burkina mines account for 54 per cent of expected 2022 production, Berenberg analysts said. Endeavour said it is monitoring the situation and would provide further updates “if appropriate”.

Endeavour’s London-listed shares fell 1.6 per cent.

West African Resources said its Sanbrado gold mine in Burkina Faso is operating as normal, staff and contractors are safe and the communities around Sanbrado remain calm.

Its shares fell 10 per cent to hit a one-year low.

IAMGOLD, which runs the Essakane mine in the country, did not respond to Reuters questions about the potential impact of the coup.

NAN