According to the senior manager, the gold was taken from a mine near Kayes in the west and transported by plane and truck to the capital late Saturday. The Malian authorities did not immediately respond for comment…reports Asian Lite News
Mali’s military government has started seizing gold stocks of the Canadian mining company Barrick as part of a legal battle over the share of revenue owed to the West African state, according to an internal Barrick letter.
The letter from CEO Mark Bristow to the Malian Mining Minister, dated Monday, says Barrick is “awaiting official confirmation of the proper receipt by the Malian Solidarity Bank,” a government entity.
The seizure follows a warning letter to Barrick earlier this month from Mali’s senior investigating judge, Boubacar Moussa Diarra, saying three tons of gold would be seized.
On Monday, a senior Barrick manager confirmed that three tons had been seized by the military government and placed in the capital, Bamako. The manager spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
According to the senior manager, the gold was taken from a mine near Kayes in the west and transported by plane and truck to the capital late Saturday. The Malian authorities did not immediately respond for comment.
Valued at around $180 million, the gold seizure is part of the dispute over revenues owed to the state. In December, Mali issued an arrest warrant for Bristow for charges of money laundering, without giving evidence, and ordered the seizure of Barrick’s gold reserves. The company has offered to pay $370 million.
Mali’s military government previously arrested four senior executives of the Canadian mining company as part of the dispute. They are still being held. Mali is one of Africa’s leading gold producers, but it has struggled for years with jihadi violence and high levels of poverty and hunger. The military seized power in 2020, and the government has placed foreign mining companies under growing pressure as it seeks to shore up revenues.
In November, the CEO of Australian company Resolute Mining and two employees were arrested in Bamako. They were released after the company paid $80 million to Malian authorities to resolve a tax dispute and promised to pay a further $80 million in the coming months.
ECOWAS gives Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger six-month grace period
The 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has given Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger a six-month grace period from January 29 to July 29, 2025 to reconsider their decision to exit the regional bloc.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the 66th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, Omar Touray, president of the ECOWAS Commission, said the decision was to use the six-month grace period as a transitional period and to keep the West African bloc’s doors open to the three countries during the period.
“The authority acknowledges that by the provisions of Article 91 of the revised ECOWAS Treaty, the three countries will officially cease to be members of ECOWAS from January 29, 2025,” Touray said.
“In this regard, the authority extends the mandate of the president of Togo and the president of Senegal to continue their mediation role up to the end of the transition period to bring the three member countries back to ECOWAS,” he said.
Touray said ECOWAS leaders at the ordinary summit on Sunday commended the “exemplary diplomatic engagement of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal and President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, as well as the diplomatic efforts of the chairman of the authority of ECOWAS, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, and other individual member states toward the three countries.”
Touray said an extraordinary session of the council of ministers has also been directed to be held in the second quarter of 2025 to consider and adopt both separation modalities and a contingency plan covering political and economic relations between ECOWAS and the three countries.
Meanwhile, Touray commended regional leaders for their collective resolve to address the region’s pressing challenges. He also encouraged the leaders to carry forward the optimism and the resolve that have guided the deliberations, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Together, let us continue to champion the cause of a peaceful, secure and prosperous West Africa, to build ECOWAS into a community of peoples anchored to the ideals of freedom, justice, democracy and a vision of good governance that addresses the legitimate aspirations of our peoples,” Tinubu said.
On January 28, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger jointly declared an intention to withdraw from ECOWAS in response to earlier sanctions imposed by the regional bloc to pressure military juntas in those countries to return to constitutional order.
The move sparked concerns among ECOWAS bloc members, headquartered in Abuja, which later lifted the sanctions.
Last Wednesday, Tinubu told visiting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Abuja that the interests and welfare of the citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger remain a priority for the leaders of ECOWAS, assuring that diplomacy and wisdom will be guiding principles in reintegrating the countries into the regional bloc.
ECOWAS was founded in 1975, with a mission to promote economic integration in all fields of economic activities, particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial matters, as well as social and cultural affairs.
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