he Malian government’s overhaul of its extraction industry risks deterring companies from investing in the nation that’s home to the world’s second-largest gold mine, according to Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad.
Mali’s military rulers have demanded a greater share of income from the nation’s gold and other resources since seizing power four years ago. The junta has adopted a new mining code and ordered companies to pay millions of dollars in back taxes and dividends, after a state audit revealed a shortfall of as much as 600-billion CFA francs ($950-million) in government revenue.
The developments in Mali are “of grave concern to any prospective mining investor,” Wanblad said in a presentation at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town on Monday. African governments, like those elsewhere in the world “need to provide fiscal and regulatory stability,” he said.
Mali’s government is currently embroiled in a dispute with Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s second-biggest gold miner. In November, the junta issued an arrest warrant for Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow and detained four other Barrick executives as negotiations over back taxes and alleged money laundering stalled.
Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto project is its largest gold mine after the company’s Carlin asset in Nevada. The Canadian firm is “making progress” in negotiations with the Malian authorities, although slowly, Bristow told Bloomberg TV in Cape Town this week.
Last year, the Malian authorities detained Resolute Mining CEO Terry Holohan for a week, only releasing him after the Australian company agreed to pay $160-million to Mali and adopt its new mining code. B2Gold and Allied Gold have also announced new agreements with the junta, both of which involve settlement payments for their Fekola and Sadiola mines respectively, as well as expansion projects.
Mali, Africa’s second-biggest gold producer, has been under military rule since 2020.
The changes to the country’s mining legislation have coincided with the government severing ties with countries including the US and France, and moving closer to Russia. Mercenaries from the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group have deployed in Mali as well as neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, where civilian governments have also been deposed by the military.
Burkina Faso, one of the continent’s biggest bullion producers, also introduced new mining rules in 2023 and has warned of harsh consequences if foreign companies fail to adhere to them. In Niger, Vancouver-based GoviEx Uranium’s mining permits have been withdrawn, while the government took control of French company Orano’s Somair uranium mine.