Four senior employees of Barrick Gold Corp. have reportedly been arrested in Mali in the latest sign of rising tensions between the Toronto-based mining company and the authoritarian military regime that runs the West African country.
The four Malian employees of Barrick were arrested for alleged financial crimes, according to a report by Reuters, but no details have emerged.
Another news agency, Agence France-Presse, also reported on the weekend that four Barrick employees had been arrested. It said the courts were demanding a high bail payment for their release. The Globe and Mail has asked Barrick for comment on the reported arrests, but a company spokesperson did not reply on the weekend.
Barrick is one of Mali’s biggest investors and gold producers. It says it has invested a total of more than US$10-billion in Mali’s economy, including more than US$1-billion over the past year alone, and it says its mines generate 5 per cent to 10 per cent of Mali’s entire GDP annually.
Mali is a former French colony that traditionally had close economic and military ties with France. But its military junta, which seized power through two coups in 2020 and 2021, has pivoted swiftly to Russia over the past three years, evicting French troops and replacing them with an estimated 1,000 Russian military contractors who are fighting rebel insurgencies in northern and central regions of the country.
The regime has signed a series of economic agreements with Moscow, including an agreement for Russia to build a gold refinery in Mali. In both Mali and Central African Republic, Russian troops have been involved in helping authorities to seize mining sites. The U.S. government has accused Russia of using African mining revenue to help finance its global military operations.
The Globe reported earlier this year that Barrick is facing mounting pressure in Mali as the military junta seeks greater control of the mining sector. The regime has repeatedly said that Mali’s mining revenue must be shared more equitably. It has targeted the sector with a much-disputed audit and a new mining code that allows greater state control of mining companies.
Some reports in African media outlets have even suggested that the Malian government is considering a move to expropriate Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex, one of the world’s biggest gold-producing mines, which is currently 20-per-cent owned by the government. Barrick has strongly denied those reports, saying it has secured a promise from the authorities that they have no intention of nationalizing the mine.
Barrick president and chief executive officer Mark Bristow has acknowledged, however, that the company is facing “challenges” in Mali and “differences” with the military government. He has visited Mali at least three times since January, seeking to convince the government that Barrick is producing huge benefits for the country.
The audit of the mining industry is a key flashpoint. The government has said that it will seek to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from the industry as a result of the new audit. Barrick, in its annual report for 2023, said the draft report by the auditors was “legally and factually flawed and without merit.”
Mr. Bristow, in a statement in July, said the economic and political climate in Mali has caused exploration companies to curtail or suspend their operations. He acknowledged Barrick’s disputes with the government, adding: “We continue to work constructively toward a global resolution of our differences and finding common ground on the key issue of sharing the economic benefits of our operations without damaging the future viability of these valuable contributors to the economy.”
In an earlier report, Barrick said the Malian government was “seeking a number of changes to the tax, financial and legal regime applicable to the Loulo-Gounkoto complex, among other demands.” It said the government’s demands were unacceptable to Barrick because they failed to respect the company’s “pre-existing rights.”
With a report by Niall McGee in Toronto