ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINES IN BURKINA FASO ...

3. The gold is complexed on zinc at the base of the tailings heap; the cementation cell consists of an
emptied truck battery; the cyanide solution is recovered in a barrel.
4. The cement is dissolved in sulphuric acid; the auriferous concentrate is then purified with nitric acid to
obtain ‘doré’.
5. The depressions are emptied by shovel; the non-neutralized cyanide waste is transported by
wheelbarrow to an unprotected storage area.
Fig. 5 – Cyanidation “garden plot”
In late-2002, the largest cyanidation of this type employed 12 permanent salaried staff, producing
350 g/month of gold from 160 t of tailings. The gold recovery rate was around 70%. Information provided
by the operator, compared with the results of on-site analysis of the process (Thomassin, 2003), shows that
this type of operation can only be profitable when making use of certain informal commercial channels.
These sell cyanide at a cost of CFA 1,000/kg (against FCFA 2,600/kg on the official market) and buy the
produced gold at CFA 6,000 to 6,500 per gram (CFA 4,500/g on the official market). These conditions
help in limiting the operating cost, here estimated at CFA 16,000/t, and thus to reduce the minimum gold
grade in the final tailings, which drops to around 4 g/t Au.
ARTISANAL MINER: THE ONLY LEGAL STATUS OPEN TO SMALL-SCALE
ENTREPRENEURS
Burkina authorities have the political will to develop the mining sector, as shown by the new Mining Code
of 1995 and its application decrees of 1997. Certain texts specifically cover the ASM sector, making a
distinction between small- and artisanal mines.
Under present-day conditions, however, “artisan miner” is the only legal status accessible to a small
entrepreneur that permits him rapidly to make his operation pay. The reason is that, contrary to a small
mine, an artisanal mine has no obligation to hold an exploration or mining licence. The only requirement is
that of an “Authorization for artisanal exploitation”, delivered by the Directorate General of Mines,
Geology and Quarries (DGMGC), after consulting the concerned local authorities. This authorization
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