Barrick to appeal Loulo-Gounkoto administrator appointment

[Ben Graham]

Barrick Mining (TSX: ABX; NYSE: B) will appeal a Malian court decision appointing Soumana Makadji, a former health minister, as the provisional administrator of its Loulo-Gounkoto operation for six months.

“We take note of the decision, the appointment of an administrator whom we know well. It is a court decision. We will appeal,” West Africa director Mamadou Samaké told Reuters.

Since January, Loulo-Gounkoto, one of Africa’s largest gold complexes, has sat idle amid a standoff triggered by Mali’s 2023 mining code, which raised tax rates and expanded state equity participation.

In November 2024, Malian authorities blocked Barrick’s gold exports and seized about three tonnes of gold, alleging unpaid taxes.

The dispute deepened when an arrest warrant was issued for CEO Mark Bristow on money-laundering and terrorism-financing charges, claims Barrick rejects.

Financial impact

With the mine offline, Barrick is incurring roughly $15 million per month in maintenance and staffing costs, while forfeiting an estimated $1.24 billion in annual revenue.

The company has excluded Loulo-Gounkoto from its production forecasts through at least 2028.

Barrick shares dipped 0.4 percent in New York trade on Monday, leaving the company valued near $37 billion.

Barrick has asked the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at the World Bank for provisional measures to pause Mali’s administrative takeover.

The company argues that Mali’s unilateral actions breach existing contracts and undermine principles of due process. Talks have so far been unproductive, in part because Mali’s current leadership “lacks mining expertise,” Bristow told The Northern Miner.