CEO says Barrick will start doing business in Mali again as soon as it can ship gold

CEO Mark Bristow said on Wednesday that Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), opens new tab will start working again at its closed Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali as soon as the country’s government lets them.

A Canadian worker told Reuters in Toronto that Mali has promised the company that the gold worth about $245 million that was taken by officials still belongs to the company. There has been a fight between Mali and Barrick since October over the country’s new mining code.

Shares of the company went up as much as 6% in the morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Barrick has put the most money into Mali. However, things got worse between the two sides when Mali arrested four Barrick workers, put out a warrant for Bristow’s arrest, and took gold from Barrick’s mine earlier this year.

“We will start the work as soon as we get permission to ship the gold,” Bristow said. “We need to ship the gold in order to pay the government anything.” Last year, Barrick gave $460 million to the Mali government.

“So, if you calculate that to per week… and every week we don’t do this it hurts everyone,” he told us.

Along with that, Barrick has also asked for international arbitration against Mali to settle the matter.

It wasn’t a short-term project for the company, Bristow said, and they plan to keep their money in Mali.