Mali to restart production at Barrick’s Loulo‑Gounkoto gold mine

[Ben Graham]

Mali plans to restart operations at Barrick Mining’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: B) Loulo‑Gounkoto gold complex under a court-appointed temporary administrator after seizing control earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

The move follows a Malian court decision to suspend Barrick’s management of Loulo‑Gounkoto, one of the Canadian miner’s most important assets, amid an escalating dispute over new mining code and unpaid taxes.

On June 16, Mali’s Tribunal de Commerce ordered that the Loulo‑Gounkoto complex be placed under provisional state control for six months. It also appointed former health minister Soumana Makadji as administrator.

Barrick had suspended operations in mid‑January after authorities blocked gold exports, detained staff and seized three tonnes of bullion.

On Monday, Malian tax authorities reopened Barrick’s Bamako office under Makadji’s oversight.

“The situation cannot remain as it is, because we need to protect the workers, we need to protect the factories,” Mines Minister Amadou Keita said on state-owned broadcaster ORTM.

The administrator will “restart operations, produce, pay the workers’ wages, but also produce gold for the national economy,” he said.

Dispute drags on

Negotiations have been ongoing since Mali implemented a new mining code in 2023, raising royalties and increasing state participation in mines. Barrick disputes these terms, claiming existing agreements protect its rights, and has initiated arbitration through the World Bank’s ICSID.

The company also removed the Loulo‑Gounkoto complex from its 2025 production guidance after halting output in January; the asset represented about 14% of its anticipated gold output and was expected to produce around 250,000 oz. Permits are due for renewal by February 2026.

Loulo‑Gounkoto is Barrick’s largest operation in Mali, accounting for over 720,000 oz. of gold in 2024.