Canadian mining company Barrick Gold on Wednesday signed a new agreement with the Malian government to end an almost two-year-old dispute over its mining assets in the West African country.
According to four sources who were privy to the information told a news platform (Reuters) that Barrick has signed the agreement and it is now up to Mali’s government to formally approve the deal.
An official announcement could come as early as Thursday. Another source said that though a deal was close, last-minute hurdles could still derail it.
The Toronto-based miner and Mali have been locked in a dispute since 2023 over the implementation of the West African country’s new mining code that gives Mali’s government a greater share in the gold mine.
As part of the new agreement, Barrick will pay a total of 275 billion CFA or $438 million to the Mali government, in return for the release of detained employees, seized gold, and restarting the operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto mine.
A delegation of more than 15 representatives of Malian ministries, as well as the private consulting firm Iventus Mining, completed a three-day inspection of Barrick’s mining complex on Wednesday.
Mali late last week gave Barrick a one-week deadline to restart operations, four of the sources said.
A new agreement with Mali would give a bump to Barrick’s operations at a time when the gold prices have been hitting an all-time high but investors have not seen a similar return reflected on the company’s share performance.
