Four Barrick Gold Corp. ABX-T employees who were recently arrested in Mali have been freed, the Canadian gold miner said.
Reuters last week reported that the Barrick employees were arrested in Mali over alleged financial crimes.
Kathy du Plessis, a spokesperson for Barrick, confirmed the release of the employees in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail on Tuesday.
Their release comes a day after Toronto-based Barrick reached a tentative agreement with the Mali government over a mining dispute that had dragged on for months.
Mali last year introduced a new mining code aimed at imposing higher royalties on foreign companies operating in the country and taking up to a 35-per-cent ownership stake in mines. The ownership between Barrick and Mali of the Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex is currently split 80-20 in favour of the Canadian miner.
Barrick had pushed back on the new mining code and challenged an audit of the company’s operations in the country conducted by the military junta government. Barrick chief executive Mark Bristow in May said that the company was dealing with people who “are not particularly competent in the mining industry.”
Shares in Barrick closed up 1.9 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday to $27.41 apiece.
Barrick has provided no details on the financial terms of the agreement with Mali, but said in a statement on Monday that they would be revealed once the settlement is finalized.
Loulo-Gounkoto is one of Barrick’s biggest mining sites. Earlier this year, the company said the complex should produce more than half a million ounces of gold in 2024.
Mali is a former French colony. The military junta seized power there in 2020 and 2021 through a series of coups. In the past few years, Mali has cut ties with France and aligned itself with Russia. French troops in the country have been replaced by Russian military contractors. The regime has signed a series of economic agreements with Moscow, including an agreement for Russia to build a gold refinery in Mali.