gold. Commissioning of the mine was scheduled for mid-2007, and production was expected to be about 2,700 kilograms per year (kg/yr). As of November 30, 2006, the company had invested about $21.7 million in the project, had made purchase commitments of about $7 million for equipment and services, and had made additional purchase commitments of about $10.2 million for ongoing development activities. High River continued with the construction of the Taparko-Boroum open pit gold mine and mill facilities, which are located about 200 km northeast of Ouagadougou. The mine’s first gold pour was scheduled for the second quarter of 2007. Initial production was expected to be about 3,100 kg/yr and to reach about 4,400 kg/yr by 2008. Measured and indicated resources were estimated to be about 12.6 Mt of ore at a grade of 2.77 g/t gold. The Taparko-Boroum Mine and mill would be operated by High River’s subsidiary Société des Mines de Taparko (Somita S.A.). High River held a 90% interest in the project, and the government held the remaining 10%. In addition to Taparko-Boroum, High River held other exploration licenses in the country, including the 1,000-km2 Bissa Group permits, which are located about 80 km north of Ouagadougou. Measured and indicated resources for the Bissa Group were estimated to be about 12 Mt of ore at a grade of 1.72 g/t gold. The company invested about $2 million in exploration in 2006 and planned to invest an additional $8 million in 2007 to test identified target areas at the Bissa Group properties. Gold mining in Burkina Faso continues to grow rapidly, with more than fifteen major discoveries made since 2006. With this has come increasing amounts of merger and acquisition activity and more explorers flocking to the region. In 2017 junior mining company Nexus Gold began district-scale exploration of the Niangouela and Bouboulou gold concessions, which are located within the Boromo greenstone belt of north-central Burkina Faso. The belt is host to several active gold mines. A recent report from publication AllAfrica revealed that the recent boom in the country’s gold mining industry in the last three years has made the country one of Africa’s leading producers and also asserted that it was luring a whole generation into the sector for work. Children as young as six were reported to have left school in order to work in the mines – mainly artisanal ones where they crush stones,