The Council of Ministers of February 8, 2023 took the decision to withdraw the Inata mine, managed by the Belahourou mining company and owned by Balaji Group. Here are the reasons.
“The first decree relates to the withdrawal of the industrial exploitation license of
large gold mine of the Société des mines de Belahourou (SMB) SA at Inata in
Soum province, Sahel region.
The mining company SMB of BALAJI Group is experiencing management problems that have led to accumulation of debts vis-à-vis the State and workers.
To support this company, the State has concluded a memorandum of understanding for the restructuring of its debt. Through this agreement, the company undertook to pay the Burkinabè State the sum of 4,285,903,102 CFA francs, in respect of fixed and
the sum of 300,880,228 CFA francs, for penalties.
The first payment, which was scheduled for June 30, 2021 at the latest, might not be honored by this mining company, whose facilities and equipment were also seized by its bank.
The adoption of this decree allows the withdrawal of the industrial exploitation permit for a large gold mine from the Société des mines de Belahourou (SMB) SA in Inata in the province of Soum, Sahel region.