Minera Refineries Launches High-Purity Gold Refinery in Zambia

Minera Refineries Zambia Limited has opened a new gold refinery in Zambia designed to process the metal to purity levels between 99% and 99.99%. The launch makes Zambia one of several African nations to establish domestic precious-metals refining capacity, joining Burkina Faso and Ethiopia in an expanding regional effort to retain mineral-processing value at home.

Copper remains the dominant force in Zambia’s mining sector, generating $7.5 billion in 2024 and accounting for 66% of the nation’s goods exports. By contrast, gold contributed just 2%, bringing in $262 million during the same period. The newly launched facility aims to shift that balance by capturing a larger share of economic value from domestic production, formalizing small-scale operations, and diversifying export streams.

Andrew Mukupa Katandula, managing director of Minera Refineries Zambia Limited, outlined a two-year strategy to integrate artisanal gold miners into formal channels through targeted pre-financing and increased transparency across production and trade networks. Company representatives noted that the refinery’s technology meets international standards, pointing to an earlier test batch sourced from Mpika that achieved high purity levels and drew interest from potential buyers.

Regional Momentum in Domestic Refining

Zambia’s facility arrives amid a wave of similar infrastructure investments across the continent throughout 2026. Nigeria opened a high-purity gold refinery in Lagos in January, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo brought a facility online in Kalemie in March. Burkina Faso launched the RAFFINOR-BF refinery in Ouagadougou in September, followed by Ethiopia inaugurating a $50 million national precious-metals refinery in October.

While these plants vary in ownership models and operational scales, they share a common objective of capturing mineral-processing revenue locally rather than exporting raw ores. For Zambia, achieving long-term economic gains from the facility will depend on consistent raw material supplies, reliable commercial throughput, and effective oversight of artisanal miners to secure traceable supply chains.