Members of West Africa’s anti-imperialist bloc – the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – have made multiple headlines this year by taking back control of their mining resources. Burkina Faso recently nationalised two gold mines; Niger expelled French mining company Orano from its uranium mines earlier this year; and now Mali is coming for one of the biggest exploiters of gold in the country – Canadian company Barrick Gold.
On 25 September 2024, four of its employees were arrested for alleged financial crimes. The company and the government are reportedly in a dispute concerning a new audit that states that Barrick Gold owes Mali hundreds of millions of dollars. Barrick Gold labels the audit “legally and factually flawed and without merit.” The company owns 80% of Mali’s Loulo-Gounkoto Gold Mine Complex, while the Malian state owns the remaining 20%.
According to a recent Business Insider article, Mali is Africa’s second-largest gold producer, yielding 105 tonnes between 2010 and 2024. The Observatory for Economic Complexity determined that gold made up 95.9% of Mali’s exports in 2022, the latest year on record.
SOURCES:
https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/markets/top-gold-producing-countries-in-africa/z3kmxbz
https://oec.world/en/profile/country/mli
https://www.barrons.com/news/canadian-mining-firm-employees-arrested-in-mali-sources-3e682292