Guinea opens its first gold refinery

President Mamadi Doumbouya opened the Nimba Gold Refinery in Conakry, the capital, on Sunday, in a country that until now exported all its gold unrefined.

"The value added by refining did not benefit our country. Today, that era is over," said mines minister Bouna Sylla.

— Bouna Sylla, Guinea's mines minister

Refining capacity, according to the company

733 tonnes a year

The company says the refinery can process 733 tonnes of gold a year, and that running at half that capacity could bring in US$4.5 billion a year.

The state plans to buy up to 30 per cent of the gold from industrial and semi-industrial mines to refine it at home, while small-scale artisanal mining makes up 70 per cent of national output, according to the minister.