Burkina Faso has just taken a big step in managing its resources. For the first time, the government has turned mining waste into pure gold bars — 44 of them, to be exact. These bars, weighing an impressive 93 kilograms, were handed over to Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo on Tuesday in the capital city of Ouagadougou. He accepted them on behalf of the country’s interim leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore.

This is no ordinary gold. It came from leftover materials called "fine c...