Gold: Guinea inaugurates its first refinery and casts its first ingots of sovereignty

Guinea inaugurated its first gold refinery, the Nimba Gold Refinery, in Gbessia, Conakry, on November 1, 2026, with President Mamadi Doumbouya in attendance. Since June 2026, exports of unrefined gold have been banned, requiring gold mined in Guinea to be refined locally before export. The refinery is reported to have capacity of 733 tonnes—ten times Guinea’s 2025 production of about 70 tonnes—and aims to attract gold from neighboring countries and establish Guinea as a regional refining hub. The state could purchase up to 30% of gold from industrial and semi-industrial mines.