Exclusive: Barrick Mining employees meet with a Malian court-appointed administrator in the capital as the office reopens

Barrick Mining’s (ABX.TO) tab office in the capital has been reopened by Malian tax authorities under a court-appointed administrator after it was closed in April for suspected tax nonpayment, two people familiar with the situation told Reuters on Monday.

It is the first big advance since a lengthy dispute over ownership and taxation was significantly escalated on June 16 when a Malian court placed the Canadian miner’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex under state administration.

In a move that Barrick has stated it will challenge, it appointed former Mali health minister Soumana Makadji as interim administrator.

Makadji, who will soon resume operations at the facility, met with employees at the Bamako headquarters on Monday afternoon. One conference attendee stated he promised to visit the mining site on Wednesday.

Once production and gold sales have resumed, he said, the mines should be able to finance themselves moving forward.

On Monday, he was also meeting with subcontractors, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.

Requests for response from Barrick and Mali’s mines ministry spokespeople were not immediately answered.

Since 2023, Barrick and the government have been negotiating the adoption of a new mining statute that increases taxes and grants the government a larger stake in the gold mines.

After Barrick’s gold exports were stopped and three metric tons of its inventories were confiscated by the military-led Malian government, operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex have been halted since mid-January. Since April, Barrick’s Bamako headquarters has been closed.