(Bamako, Mali) Four employees of the Canadian mining company Barrick Gold, which with the Malian state owns one of the largest gold complexes in the world, were arrested this week in Mali, a justice official said on Saturday. the cover of anonymity.
This manager did not specify the reason for these arrests, nor the functions and identities of the four employees.
A source close to the company, also speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case, indicated that the courts were demanding a very high bail to release them.
Barrick Gold owns 80% and the Malian state 20% of the two companies that own the Loulo-Gounkoto underground and open-pit gold complex in western Mali, near the Senegal border. The complex contains tens of millions of proven or probable tonnes, according to specialist sites.
The arrests came as foreign mining and gold companies have come under pressure from the junta since it came to power by force in 2020.
The restoration of the sovereignty of this country confronted with jihadism and plunged into a deep multidimensional crisis is one of the mantras of the military. They vowed to ensure Mali, one of the leading producers of gold in Africa, but also one of the poorest countries in the world, a more equitable distribution of revenues from mining.
Mali adopted a new mining code in August 2023 allowing the State to take up to 30% participation in new projects. The reform removed tax exemptions granted to companies during operations.
Barrick Gold, one of the foreign groups that dominate the Malian mining sector, acknowledged tensions with the authorities in July, without specifying their nature. He said in a statement “to work constructively towards a comprehensive resolution of our differences to find a common opinion on the essential question of sharing the economic benefits generated by our operations”.
The boss of Barrick Gold, Mark Bristow, emphasized that over the last 29 years, his company had invested more than $10 billion in the Malian economy and that its mines represented between 5% and 10% of the annual gross domestic product. of the country.
The increased pressure on foreign mining companies coincided with the junta’s pivot towards Russia.