Guinea Inaugurates First Gold Refinery – Joins Burkina Faso in West African Push for Local Processing.
President Mamadi Doumbouya today inaugurated Guinea’s first gold refinery, the Nimba Gold Refinery (NGR), in Gbessia Cité de l’Air near Conakry. The facility has a nominal capacity of more than 2,300 kg of gold per day (roughly 730 tonnes per year at full operation), making it the largest gold refinery on the African continent according to Guinean officials.
The plant produces 99.99% pure gold bars and is designed to process both industrial and artisanal gold. First shipments of refined Guinean gold bars had already left the country in early October ahead of the formal opening.
The inauguration comes just over a month after Burkina Faso opened its first gold refinery, Raffinor-BF, in Ouagadougou under Captain Ibrahim Traoré. That state-backed facility has an initial capacity of 164 tonnes per year, with plans to expand to 515 tonnes.
Guinean Mines Minister Bouna Sylla, the presidency, and local media (including on the day of the inauguration) describe the Nimba Gold Refinery as “la plus grande raffinerie d’or d’Afrique” (the largest gold refinery in Africa).