Bamako – Four employees of Canadian mining company Barrick Gold arrested in Mali last week have been released, a judicial source said on Monday.
Barrick Gold co-owns one of the world’s largest gold mining complexes with the Malian government, ruled by a junta since a 2020 coup.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the judicial source confirmed the employees’ arrest and subsequent release without giving a reason for their detention nor their functions or identities.
Foreign mining and gold companies have come under pressure from the ruling junta, with Barrick Gold having previously acknowledged unspecified tensions with the authorities in July.
Since seizing power, Mali’s leaders have vowed to ensure that the country has a more equitable distribution of mining revenues.
Despite being one of the leading gold producers in Africa, the Sahel nation is also one of the poorest countries in the world.
In August 2023, Mali adopted a new mining code allowing the state to take a stake of up to 30 percent in new projects.
The reform abolished tax exemptions granted to companies during the mining process.
Barrick Gold holds 80 percent of two companies that own the Loulo-Gounkoto subterranean and open-air gold complex in western Mali, near the border with Senegal, with the Malian state owning the remaining 20 percent.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
