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Burkina Faso

Boungou Mine

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Boungou Mine

Location: 322 km E from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Regional Office:

Arrondissement 12, Secteur 54, Parcelle 14 Lot 19, Section 281
Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso
11 BP 1196

Contacts:

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Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusCare and Maintenance
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Boungou mine is a high-grade open pit operation with significant exploration potential in the largely under-explored surrounding area.

The Boungou Mine was placed on care and maintenance in August 2023 due to security concerns. In June 2025, the government of Burkina Faso completed the nationalization process, transferring the mine to the management of the state-owned operator Société de Participation Minière du Burkina (SOPAMIB).

On June 25, 2025, the West African Development Bank (BOAD) has approved CFA10 billion in funding to support Burkina Faso’s Boungou and Wahgnion gold mines.

According to BOAD’s statement, the funds will help strengthen and increase the operational capacity of the Boungou and Wahgnion sites. However, the bank and government officials have yet to disclose details regarding the duration of the planned works or the expected level of gold production once the upgrades are completed.
Latest NewsBurkina Faso completes nationalisation of five gold mining assets     June 12, 2025

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Société de Participation Minière du Burkina (SOPAMIB) 100 % Indirect
SEMAFO Boungou S.A. (operator) 100 % Direct
The Boungou License is held by Semafo Boungou SA, with Endeavour, through its subsidiary Semafo (Barbados) Ltd., owning 90%, and the State of Burkina Faso holding the remaining 10%.

On June 30, 2023, Endeavour Mining completed the sale of its 90% interest in the Wahgnion mine to Lilium Mining, a subsidiary of Lilium Capital. However, Lilium failed to complete payment for both the Boungou and Wahgnion mines, leading to arbitration. Lilium countered with claims of misrepresentation and breach of warranty.

On August 27, 2024, Endeavour and Lilium signed a settlement agreement, involving Burkina Faso, for the divestment of the mines. As per the agreement, Lilium transferred ownership to the State.

On June 12, 2025, Burkina Faso finalized the transfer of five gold mining assets to its state-owned company, SOPAMIB, which now owns, manages, and operates these assets.

SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

The Tawori exploration permit (initially the Boungou exploration permit), which contains the Boungou gold deposit, lies within the Diapaga greenstone belt, a northeast-southwest orientated belt that extends over 250 km in length and over 50 km in width. Endeavour holds four contiguous permits, collectively known as the Tapoa permit group, covering approximately 70 km in strike length along the Diapaga belt.

The stratigraphy at Boungou is relatively simple and quite consistent from hole to hole. The stratigraphy consists of two volcanic flows separated by a volcaniclastic unit. The footwall flow generally progresses upwards from a massive basalt flow to pillowed flows followed by flow breccia and volcaniclastics. The hangingwall is characterized by a medium grained volcanic flow (or sill). All these units are intruded by diorite and/or granodiorite sills, possibly originating from the felsic intrusion located immediately west of the deposit. Late dolerite dykes are also present and appear to be sub-vertical and strike northwest. The Boungou Shear Zone, which hosts the main gold mineralization at Boungou, is located at the contact between the footwall and hangingwall volcanic units, where the volcanic flow top breccias have formed and the volcaniclastics deposited. The contact zone is thought to have served as an area of weakness, focusing the deformation. While the volcaniclastic units are not always present (although the intensity of the alteration can make it difficult to identify), the flow top breccias are interpreted to be ubiquitous across the deposit area.

The Boungou gold deposit can be described as a West African shear zone hosted greenstone gold deposit. The main mineralized lode is interpreted as a flat-lying anticlinal shear that outcrops in the southeast and plunges gently to the northwest. The mineralization has a strike length of approximately 2 km, striking towards a bearing of 315° and an across-strike length of approximately 1 km (towards 45°). The mineralization is gently folded with the fold axis oriented along strike and the limbs dipping gently at approximately 15°.

Gold mineralization is associated with biotite and silica-sericite alteration, along with disseminated sulphides, such as pyrrhotite, pyrite and minor arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite, with occasional free gold. The mineralization is structurally controlled and is hosted primarily within a large shear zone and its associated alteration. Arsenopyrite is almost invariably associated with the presence of gold in assayed samples. The percent arsenopyrite logged can be used as an initial identification of the mineralized lode. Although not common, visible gold has been observed in core in some drill holes.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

Lilium has not had commercial production at Boungou since its acquisition June 30, 2023.
CommodityUnits202320222021202020192018Avg. Annual (Projected)LOM (Projected)
Gold koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe205641481,181
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics20222021202020192018
Daily ore mining rate  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Daily processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,000 t4,000 t
Stripping ratio  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe7.2 7.1
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,628 kt568.3 kt
Waste  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe11,651 kt4,035 kt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,000 kt368.1 kt
Daily mining capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,000 t of ore4,000 t of ore
Annual mining capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1.34 Mt of ore1.34 Mt of ore

Production Costs

CommodityUnits20222021202020192018
Total cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe 380 / oz   403 / oz  
Total cash costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe 497 / oz   596 / oz  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency20222021202020192018
OP mining costs ($/t mined) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Mine Financials

Units20222021202020192018
Sustaining costs M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 25.2   10.5  
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 295.8   67  
Operating Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 122.5   22.8  

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 15, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 15, 2025

Workforce

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2020

Aerial view:

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