Mali charges four Barrick Gold employees as talks stall

BARRICK Gold confirmed four employees at its 510,000 to 560,000 ounce a year Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali had been charged and detained pending trial.The Canadian gold producer refuted the charges.This development comes amid a dispute over alleged unpaid taxes said by Reuters to be as much as $512m. In another report, Reuters said Barrick was preparing to make a $300m to $350m payment to the government after paying $85m in early October.Mark Bristow, CEO of Barrick Gold has previously declined to comment on the claims, but said on November 7 the company had concluded many negotiations of this nature before, often agreeing to increase host country participation in mining.“We had a similar situation in Tanzania and more recently in Papua New Guinea and we have had a good outcome. So let’s sit down and formalise it,” he said.He said today: “Our attempts to find a mutually acceptable resolution have so far been unsuccessful, but we remain committed to engage with the government in order to resolve all the claims levied against the company and its employees and secure the early release of our unjustly imprisoned colleagues”.Mali’s government, a military junta in power since 2021, previously said there would be serious consequences if the dispute with Barrick was not settled. President Assimi Goita has struck a take it or leave it approach to investors, saying they could leave the country if they failed to accept the country’s 2023 mining code.The new mining code increased state ownership to 35% (from 20% under the old code) in new ventures, and sought to collect more taxes from mining companies. As part of this move, the junta rolled out an audit of existing mining contracts, including the possibility of discovering unpaid taxes.Last week, UK-listed gold miner Resolute Mining agreed to pay the Mali government $160m after it effectively took its CEO and two colleagues hostage. Terry Holohan was detained for ten days following a meeting in Mali’s capial Bamako over unpaid tax allegations. The company previously said the claims were unsubstantiated.Holohan and his colleagues were released on November 21.Other companies operating in Mali such as B2Gold and Allied Gold have already agreed to the terms of the new mining code.The post Mali charges four Barrick Gold employees as talks stall appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com