Barrick Gold halts operations in Mali after government seizes gold stockpiles
Date
1/15/2025 4:04:27 AM
(MENAFN)
In reaction to a protracted war with the army administration of Mali over alleged unpaid taxes, the Canadian mining firm Barrick Gold has announced that it will halt missions in the West African nation.
In order to fundamentally prevent the shipment and sale of the precious metal, the business claims that the Malian government confiscated gold stockpiles from its Loulo-Gounkoto complex in the west of the country and moved them to a custodian bank.
Around three metric tons of gold valued at $245 million were taken out of the mining sites by the government on Saturday and transported by helicopter, according to sources quoted by Reuters on Monday.
Since 2023, Mali and the second-largest miner in the world have been at odds over a new extraction deal that would give the landlocked nation greater authority over its minerals.
With extensive mining operations like the Loulo and Gounkoto mines, which are 80 percent owned by Barrick and 20 percent by the Malian government, the former French colony is one of Africa's leading producers of gold. But as the price of the precious metal keeps rising, the new government in Bamako, which came to power in a coup in 2020, has pushed for more money from the industry to increase state revenue. A new mining rule that allowed the government to acquire up to 30 percent of new projects was passed by the Sahel state in 2023.
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