Barrick Gold remains “fully engaged and committed to reaching a mutually beneficial resolution” with Mali to end a dispute over its assets in the country, its executive for Africa and the Middle East said in a memo on Saturday.
The Toronto, Canada-headquartered miner and Malian government have been locked in a dispute since 2023 over the implementation of the West African country’s new mining code, which gives the state a greater share in Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold mining complex, one of the world’s largest.
Barrick said on January 13 it was obliged to temporarily suspend mining operations in Mali after the government seized about three tonnes of gold stock from its complex. The government had been blocking the company’s gold exports since early November.
On February 19 Barrick signed an agreement to end the dispute, which went to the state for formal approval. While there has not been any major hiccup since then, the deal is taking some time to be finalised, a person close to the process said.
Previous deals with other mining companies operating in Mali also took “some time” to be signed by the government, according to another person familiar with the deals.
In the company memo sent to staff on Saturday, Barrick’s regional COO, Sebastiaan Bock, said there were “no major updates at this stage”.
“As a reminder, all noncritical operations remain temporarily paused until further notice,” he said.
Salaries and annual bonuses have been maintained for staff despite the suspension. But one of the Mali complex’s suppliers told Reuters in early March that Barrick had two months’ worth of overdue payments.
**Reuters**