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Burkina Faso is Open to Russian Investors Interested in Mining Gold & Other Minerals, Minister Says

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Burkina Faso flag - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 26.03.2024
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Russia and Burkina Faso are boosting cooperation in several spheres. On Tuesday, Russian state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, and the West African country signed a roadmap for developing partnership in nuclear energy, which includes the construction of a nuclear power plant in Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso is open to Russian investors interested in mining gold and other minerals, the country's Minister of Energy, Mining, and Quarries Yacouba Zabré Gouba told Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the 2024 Atomexpo International Forum held in Russia.
"Russian companies, like all companies, can participate in the extraction of any substances from mines and quarries," including "strategic materials such as zinc, manganese, copper, graphite, lithium," he said.
Russian companies "will be able to become strategic partners in the development of some of the country's natural resources," he added. This, in particular, is provided for in the Memorandum of Understanding between Burkina Faso and Russia, he noted.
The senior official went on to say that Russian company NORDGOLD, which owns gold deposits in Burkina Faso, is under the protection of the security forces.
The company, which has been operating in the country for almost a decade, "continues its work with the support of the government, which ensures the security of the sites with the help of security forces," Gouba underlined.
"In fact, in order to ensure safe mining, the state does not hesitate to create detachments or military bases at these mines with the participation of the operating companies," the minister stressed.
A Russian national flag and flags with the logo of Rosatom flutters at the construction site of a cooling tower at the Kursk II nuclear power plant near the village of Makarovka outside Kurchatov, Kursk region - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 28.02.2024
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Some of the Russian company's projects "have led to the opening of important sites," he noted, adding that, today, NORDGOLD "has ambitions to put them into operation."
Continuing the talk on Russia-Burkina Faso nulcear cooperation, Gouba highlighted that the partnership does not exclude technology transfer.
The memorandum of cooperation signed by the two countries in 2023 specifically addresses this aspect, as well as the "educational aspect" in this field, he recalled. In October, the memorandum was inked by Rosatom and the country's authorities.
"There will also be an opportunity for cooperation in the field of medicine as well as in the field of agriculture," the minister added.
On Tuesday, a roadmap for developing cooperation on nuclear energy was inked by Rosatom and Burkina Faso.
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