Overview

• A Bamako commercial court directed that Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex be placed under six months of provisional administration over a dispute about unpaid taxes and contract terms
• Zoumana Makadji, an accountant and ex-health minister, has been appointed as the court-appointed administrator with authority over daily operations
• Barrick Gold retains legal ownership of the complex but its subsidiaries have ceded management and have excluded Mali output from their production forecasts
• The Canadian miner has initiated binding arbitration at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and sought provisional measures to protect its rights
• Mali’s military government has previously detained Barrick employees, suspended gold exports and imposed higher taxes and profit-sharing requirements under a revised mining code