Ivory Coast plans gold refinery start in 2027

IVORY COAST plans to start operating a gold refinery in the first half of 2027 as it seeks to expand local processing and become Africa’s largest gold producer by 2035, Bloomberg reported.

The Société Ivoirienne des Métaux Précieux (Simep) refinery will have capacity to process up to 100 tons of gold a year, Mines, Petroleum and Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly said in Abidjan.

Gold refined at the facility will be marketed with the help of US financial services firm StoneX Group.

Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, currently produces about 60 tons of gold a year. The government expects output to rise to 100 tons by 2030.

The refinery forms part of a broader push by African governments to retain more value from their mineral resources by processing them domestically before export.

Kenya has said it plans to ban exports of raw minerals, including gold, while Ghana and Zimbabwe have also imposed restrictions on exports of unprocessed metal.

Ghana is currently Africa’s largest gold producer, with output of 192.4 tons in 2025.

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