Burkina Faso's president, junta leader Ibrahim Traore, on the weekend said he planned to withdraw mining permits for some foreign companies as the small West African nation looked to increase its gold autonomy. While he did not specify which permits the government planned to cull, he said in a radio address on Saturday he wanted Burkina Faso to mine its own gold.
"The government remains support of WAF's position in Burkina Faso as demonstrated by recent position interactions between WAF and the government last month." WAF was last month awarded Best Mining Company at Burkina Faso's premier international mining and energy conference at exhibition, SAMAO, which is supported by the country's government.