(Agence Ecofin) – The Perkoa mine, which came on stream in 2013, was supplying zinc until last April, when flooding caused the deaths of 8 workers and halted operations. Due to financial difficulties, the owner cannot get it going again and has already laid off the staff.

In Burkina Faso, the commercial court is to decide on the legal liquidation of the Perkoa zinc mine. This was announced Oct. 6 by Trevali Mining of Canada, owner of the assets, after filing an inquiry.

If the motion is granted, the court will appoint a court liquidator to handle the day-to-day operations of Nantou Mining, Trevali’s local subsidiary. Since the dismissal of most of the employees, these cases concern in particular the general maintenance of the mine and the preparations for a closure and rehabilitation of the site. A financial allocation managed by the Burkinabe government is planned for this rehabilitation.

As a reminder, the Perkoa mine started production in 2013 and was producing zinc until April 16, when heavy rains contributed to a flood that killed 8 miners. When the company schedules a time to restart the facilities to resume production, it will be out of cash and currently on the brink of bankruptcy.

However, Perkoa is not yet at the end of his life. As of December 31, 2021, the mine hosted approximately 230 million pounds (over 100,000 tonnes) of proven and probable zinc reserves. The stabilization of the country’s political situation and the involvement of the authorities in this dossier could therefore allow a later resumption.

Emiliano Tosso

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