Barrick Mining has officially taken back operational control of the Mali mine, as indicated in a recent memo

Canada’s Barrick Mining has formally taken back operational control of its gold mine in Mali, according to corporate memo obtained by Reuters.

In the memo, Director of Operations for Africa and the Middle East Sebastiaan Bock stated that Barrick will gradually resume production and concentrate on mandatory training for staff and contractors.

After two years of talks, the parties came to an agreement last month to end their disagreement over Barrick’s activities in the West African nation. A Malian court-appointed provisional administrator took over in June after Barrick suspended operations at its gold mining complex in January due to disagreements over the military-led government’s new mining legislation.

According to a source, Barrick accepted a $430 million settlement.

According to two persons familiar with the situation, a Malian judge last week ordered Barrick to regain control of the three metric tons of gold that the country’s military administration had taken about a year earlier. In January, a military helicopter confiscated the approximately $400 million worth of gold after a Malian judge issued a confiscation order. Both sources claim that since then, it has stayed at the BMS bank in Bamako, the capital of Mali.

Under its interim CEO, Mark Hill, Barrick, which has activist investor Elliott Capital as a shareholder, announced plans to concentrate on its North American businesses, including an initial public offering (IPO).

On Thursday afternoon, Barrick’s stock was up 1% on the Toronto Stock Exchange.