en.Wedoany.com Reported - Guinea (Guinea Conakry) President Mamadi Doumbouya informed industrial, semi-industrial, and artisanal gold mine operators and trading companies at a meeting last week that the country has banned the export of raw gold. All domestically mined gold must undergo smelting, certification, and refining within the country before export. This ban is the latest measure in Guinea's strategy to enhance value addition in the mining sector and advance industrialization.

The authorities will channel production through the Nimba Gold Refinery, currently under construction in Conakry. Companies that continue to export raw gold risk license suspension, termination of mining agreements, or even prosecution.

This policy aligns Guinea with other West African nations tightening controls on mineral exports. Ghana plans to ban raw gold exports by 2030, while Niger has suspended exports of certain minerals through stricter trade measures. Although Côte d'Ivoire has not yet implemented a full ban, a wave of new refinery construction is emerging.

As early as 2022, Guinea pushed to expand domestic processing of its primary mineral export, bauxite. Now, it has incorporated gold into this strategy, while simultaneously accelerating the development of refineries and pellet plants around the Simandou iron ore project led by Rio Tinto.

President Doumbouya views this gold measure as a step toward achieving "irreversible industrialization" under the Simandou 2040 development program, and stated that Guinea remains open to foreign investment but expects partners to respect its strategic interests.

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