Barrick Gold Settles Mali Dispute: Mining Giant Regains Loulo-Gounkoto Operations

Barrick Gold has wrapped up its months-long standoff with Mali’s government—a major win for the Canadian mining heavyweight. Here’s what went down:

The Deal:

• All legal charges against Barrick, its subsidiaries, and staff are being dropped
• Four detained employees will be released
• Barrick gets full operational control of the Loulo-Gounkoto mine complex back (provisional admin suspended)
• Barrick is withdrawing pending arbitration cases at ICSID in exchange

Why It Matters: Mali’s political instability had left Barrick’s West African assets in limbo for over a year. The Loulo-Gounkoto complex is one of Africa’s largest gold producers—this settlement signals the country is ready to stabilize its mining sector after a series of disputes with foreign operators.

What’s Next: Barrick is eyeing a “constructive partnership” with Mali going forward. The settlement removes a major overhang on the stock and clears the path for resumed operations at full capacity. Investors have been watching this closely—any news of production resumption could be a catalyst for the stock.

The company’s balance sheet gets some breathing room, but geopolitical risk in Mali remains a factor worth monitoring.