Burkina Faso lifts export suspension on Tambao manganese mine

Burkina Faso’s transitional government lifted a suspension of miner Pan African Minerals’ manganese export licence, which was imposed in March, the general manager of PAM-Burkina said.

The transitional government, in place since October 2014, had pledged to review some mining contracts granted by the previous government, saying exploration permits had been awarded in an opaque manner.

It had suspended PAM-Burkina’s licence to export manganese from its mine at Tambao in the northeast of the country, saying the company had not respected the terms of its mining permit, issued in May 2014, which included paving a road and constructing a railroad to the mine.

“The letter from the Mines Ministry reached us on Friday at around 2 p.m. (1400 GMT),” said Souleymane Mihin, the general manager of PAM-Burkina. “All I can say at the moment is that we are taking measures to lift the suspension.”

The permit is valid for 20 years for annual production of 3 million tonnes of manganese, which is used as a component to keep steel from rusting. Timis Corporation, which controls PAM, said it would be the world’s biggest manganese mine.

Burkina Faso will have a new government after the president-elect is sworn in on Dec. 29 following polls last month.