CONAKRY, May 15, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Guinea's junta has scrapped dozens of companies' mining concessions, according to a decree broadcast on state television Wednesday night.

The cancellations affect more than 50 permits for extracting gold, bauxite, diamonds and graphite, according to the junta-issued decree, which offered no reason for the decision.

Since coming to power in a September 2021 coup, junta leader Mamady Doumbouya has sought greater control over the lucrative mining sector.

Oumar Totiya Barry, a mining sector researcher, said the permits were going unused.

"Most of the companies concerned were not developing or exploiting the concessions that had been allocated to them," he told AFP.

This month, the junta cancelled concessions granted to two local extractors, Guiter Mining and Kebo Energy SA, a day after ordering permits to be withdrawn from companies that do not comply with the country's mining code.

It has also given foreign companies until the end of May to submit proposals and timetables for building refineries that would ensure the mineral bauxite is locally processed.

Despite its abundant natural resources, Guinea remains one of the world's poorest countries, with the spoils of its extractive industries unequally distributed.