BARRICK Gold said it had agreed to find a “global resolution” with Mali regarding “existing claims and disputes” between its Loulo and Gounkoto gold mining firms and the government.
Details of the agreement, based in essence on Barrick’s original proposals, will be made public once the terms of the settlement have been finalised, said Barrick in a statement on Monday evening.
Mark Bristow, CEO of Barrick said the company had had a “mutually beneficial” relationship with Mali for 30 years and that “occasional differences with successive regimes” had always been amicably resolved.
“The current negotiations have proved challenging but we’re encouraged by the government’s recognition of the importance of securing the long-term viability of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex as a substantial contributor to the Malian economy,” said Bristow.
“We look forward to working with the government to normalise our long-standing partnership,” he said.
The statement from the world’s second largest miner comes two days after the Malian government arrested four Barrick employees according to a report by Reuters.
The two parties have been negotiating a new mining contract that proposes to give Mali’s military-led authorities greater control over its resources.
In 2023, Mali’s interim government signed into law a new mining code enabling the state and local investors to take stakes in mining projects as high as 35% compared with 20% previously.
This would more than double the sector’s contribution to Mali’s gross domestic product to around 20% and allow Mali to address a shortfall in production revenues, the government said at the time.
Bristow said in November 2023 future mining projects in Mali might not fly if the code was applied. Barrick has identified a number of new “priority targets” for exploration at Loulo-Gounkoto after confirming a 10-year life for the complex based on existing economic reserves.
“It takes time for people to really comprehend that because these are not economists or miners, but military people. They are all colonels. You have to take time to understand the model,” Bristow said previously.
“My view is that we have got time to talk and to find a solution while at same time [appreciating that] Mali is constantly on the look out for support and better tax revenue.”
“Mining needs ongoing capital investment and Mali always been a place where the country has respected it owns laws. This is a change in law, but it is still respecting the law of the past. What we have to do is find ways as to what will be better for the government, and equally supportive of growing the industry and enabling it to replace reserves it’s mining.”
