BARRICK Gold was “fully engaged and committed to reaching a mutually beneficial resolution” with Mali to end a dispute over its assets there, said Reuters citing the gold miner’s COO for Africa and the Middle East.
Citing a memo penned by Sebastiaan Bock, seen by Reuters on Saturday, the company also said there were “no major updates at this stage” on the dispute which turns on the implementation of the West African country’s new mining code. The code gives the state a greater share in Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold mining complex, led by a military junta since 2021.
“As a reminder, all non-critical operations remain temporarily paused until further notice,” said Bock of the situation at Loulo-Gounkoto.
Barrick said on January 13 that it was obliged to temporarily suspend mining operations in Mali after the government seized around three tons of gold stock from its complex. The government had been blocking the company’s gold exports since early November.
Reuters reported on February 19 that Barrick had signed an agreement to end the dispute, which then 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, one person close to the process told Reuters.
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.
Salaries and annual bonuses have been maintained for staff despite the suspension. But one of the complex’s suppliers told Reuters in early March that Barrick had two months’ worth of overdue payments.
