Major African gold producer bans raw exports
Guinean President Mamadi Doumbouya has banned the export of raw gold, directing all production to be refined domestically as part of a push to expand local value addition in the West African nation’s mining sector.
The measure follows talks between the president and industrial and artisanal mining operators, as well as gold buying offices, on June 19, and takes effect immediately.
“Any operator who, after the expiry of this deadline, continues to export raw gold will have its license suspended, its mining agreement terminated, and will answer for its actions before Guinean justice,” Doumbouya warned, according to his office.
Guinea holds significant gold reserves and ranks as the sixth-largest producer in Africa, with production of 69.3 tons in 2025, according to the World Gold Council. The former French colony is also the world’s leading producer of bauxite, accounting for around 33.2% of global output in 2024, US Geological Survey data shows.
President Mamadi Doumbouya said Guinea has “unfortunately been among the poorest nations in the world,” despite being “one of the richest lands in Africa.”
He said the country’s “gold leaves its soil every day in raw form, loaded onto planes, taken to foreign refineries to be processed” and sold elsewhere while Guinea “receives crumbs.”
“I put an end to this today. Guinean gold will be melted in Guinea, certified in Guinea, valued in Guinea before being exported to international markets,” he declared.
The government said the measure is designed to boost local value addition and accelerate industrialization in a country where mining remains the backbone of the economy.
Under the new framework, refining is expected to take place at the Nimba Gold Refinery in Gbessia, a state-backed facility in the capital, Conakry. The plant is expected to process up to 2,000 kg of gold per day and an estimated monthly capacity of 520 tons. It is designed to produce internationally certified bullion and handle industrial waste streams containing precious metals, according to the presidency.
Doumbouya, who first came to power in 2021 after a military takeover and later won the presidency in an election last December, has also tightened oversight of Guinea’s bauxite sector, revoking and reassigning mining concessions while pushing for greater local processing.
Similar policies have been rolled out elsewhere in Africa in recent years. Zimbabwe, the continent’s leading lithium producer, has restricted exports of unprocessed lithium concentrates, while Tanzania and Uganda have already banned exports of unrefined minerals and metals, including gold and copper.
