Gold miner Nordgold will, this year, maintain its investment in its Burkina Faso mines at similar levels to the $145-million in capital expenditure (capex) invested during 2018.
The company, which operates the Bissa, Bouly and Taparko mines in the country, on Thursday said the capex included investments in exploration, development and maintenance, as well as capitalised stripping.
The 2018 capex was nearly double the $62-million invested during 2017.
“Since 2009, we have invested over $1-billion into Burkina Faso. The launch of the Bouly mine in 2016 confirmed our position as the second-largest gold producer in the country, with total production of over 360 000 oz/y.
"We will maintain this level of investment in 2019, highlighting our continued commitment to Burkina Faso, where we have established ourselves as significant employers, large contributors to the local economy and also a major taxpayer. We are confident this next phase of investment will generate benefits for all our stakeholders, both in Burkina Faso and to our shareholders,” said CEO Nikolai Zelenski.
Nordgold also has operations in Guinea, Russia and Kazakhstan.