The plant is being built in Senu, a town on the southern outskirts of the capital, Bamako. The work is being carried out by Yadran Group, a Russian industrial conglomerate and an unnamed Swiss investment company.
When complete, the refinery will be able to produce 200 tonnes of gold a year – worth approximately $130bn. This is quadruple Mali’s present gold output.
Mali is one of the largest gold producers in the world. However, this has not been reflected in the money flowing into state coffers. In recent years, the tax collected by Mali from international mining companies has varied between about $1bn and, in 2024, $1.4bn. The country’s per capita GDP is less than $900.
Ownership of the plant will be shared, but the state will have a controlling stake.
Mali is presently ruled by Assimi Goita, a general who seized power in a coup in 2021. Elections had been scheduled, but this month the National Transitional Council approved a bill granting Goita an additional five-year term as president.
Since taking power, Goita has moved Mali away from France, the former colonial power and towards Russia.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the refinery, he said the plant would allow Mali to end decades of dependence on foreign refineries.
He added the country’s laws would be changed to require all mining companies to process their gold domestically.
Reuters notes that Mali’s move reflects a shift in the Sahel, where Guinea, Niger and Burkina Faso have also revised their mining codes to mandate local processing, thereby capturing more of their commodities’ value chains.
Speaking at the ceremony, Goita said: “Since 1980, Mali’s gold has been exported for refining and sale to countries such as the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, and Switzerland. This deprives our country of substantial revenues that could be used for the development of its economy.”
Irek Salikhov, the president of Yadran, added that the refinery would become “a regional centre for processing gold extracted not only in Mali, but also in neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso”.
A Malian court this month put Canadian miner Barrick under state control for six months as part of a tax dispute between the company and the government.
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Russia agrees to build major gold refinery in MaliMali breaks ground on $130bn-a-year gold refinery Global Construction Review.
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