en.Wedoany.com Reported - Guinea's President Mamadi Doumbouya has announced an immediate ban on the export of unprocessed gold, requiring all gold to be refined, certified, and processed locally before export. Non-compliant operators will face license revocation and contract termination. This is one of the most aggressive mining policy adjustments Guinea has introduced to date, aimed at strengthening domestic refining and capturing more value from the gold industry.
Guinea's Minister of Mines, Bouna Sylla, told Reuters that the gold export ban is based on a broader strategy to position the country as a regional gold processing hub. The Nimba Gold Refinery, currently under construction in the Gbessia district of Conakry, has an initial annual capacity of 530 tons and an investment of $30 million, with commercial operations expected to begin this month. In 2025, Guinea's gold production was approximately 2.32 million ounces (about 72 tons), theoretically sufficient to be covered by the refining capacity. However, the ban is already in effect, and the real test lies in whether the country can quickly bring the refinery into operation.
Guinea is one of several African countries pursuing downstream mineral processing. Zimbabwe earlier this year imposed restrictions on the export of raw materials and lithium concentrates to accelerate domestic processing, but miners subsequently pushed for a delay until sufficient refining capacity is established. Ghana has set a 2030 deadline to ban the export of unprocessed gold. Kenneth Ashigbey, President of the Chamber of Mines of Ghana, stated that the government requires mining companies to sell 30% of their doré production to the Gold Committee for domestic refining, compared to the previous requirement of selling only 20% of gold in bar form to the Bank of Ghana. These cases show that policy interventions can change market behavior, but success ultimately depends on infrastructure readiness and enforcement capacity.
The real challenge for Guinea lies in formalizing gold flows, especially from the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. In 2025, the country exported a total of 69.3 tons of gold, of which 49.6 tons came from artisanal and small-scale production and 19.9 tons from industrial output. Most artisanal gold flows through informal networks, with an estimated annual loss of 50 tons due to border loopholes, complicating enforcement of the ban. Local refining costs also pose a challenge. Ashigbey noted that miners previously incurred refining costs between 0.04% and 0.2%, but domestic refining costs have now risen to 0.55%, requiring large mining companies to bear significantly increased additional costs. Power supply is another constraint, with the World Bank estimating that 700 megawatts of electricity capacity will be needed by 2028 just to support mining operations. The bauxite industry's own refining push is already consuming limited capacity, forcing China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) to bundle a 250-megawatt power plant into its alumina deal to secure supply. Although gold refining requires far less electricity than alumina smelting, the Nimba Refinery will still compete for capacity on an increasingly strained grid.
Guinea's gold ban has the potential to reshape the country's mining value chain and unlock new investments in refining, infrastructure, and downstream services. However, the policy's success will depend more on execution than political ambition, specifically on whether it can quickly bring refining capacity online, formalize artisanal supply, and enforce compliance without disrupting exports. Guinea's Chamber of Mines declined to comment.
