Mali airlifts gold from Barrick mine: Reuters

The Malian junta is choppering gold stockpiles out of Barrick Gold‘s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) Loulo-Gounkoto complex, Reuters reports.

The airlift began Saturday, the newswire said, citing four sources close to the situation and a company memo on Sunday the sources confirmed. Last week, the military-led government said it was going to seize stockpiles at the mine.

Authorities claim Toronto-based Barrick, the second-lagest gold producer by volume, owes the regime US$512 million in back taxes.

The amount of gold seized so far is about three tonnes, two sources told the newswire, valued at about US$245 million, another said. The site has about four tonnes in total now, they said. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t allowed to speak for the company, Reuters said.

Shares in Barrick Gold fell 2% on Monday in Toronto to $22.24 apiece, valuing the company at $38.8 billion.

The company didn’t immediately reply to an email from The Northern Miner on Monday seeking comment. Barrick told Reuters it had nothing to add to a Jan. 6 statement threatening to shut the mine. Sunday’s staff memo said the company may be forced to follow through “if the situation is not resolved quickly.”

Deadline

It was a week ago that Barrick set a seven-day deadline for Mali to remove new export limits and resolve the dispute which has been simmering for months. At one point, the regime issued an arrest warrant for Barrick CEO Mark Bristow.

Loulo-Gounkoto accounts for about 14% of Barrick’s forecast output this year. Mali, Africa’s second-largest gold producer, depends on the metal for 80% of its exports.

The government passed a new mining code last year increasing its stakes and has been lining up Western miners for what it calls arrears payments.

In November, the junta detained Resolute Mining (ASX: RSG; LSE: RSG) CEO Terry Holohan and two other employees.

They were released after 12 days when the company agreed to pay the government about US$160 million to settle a tax dispute.

In October, Barrick paid US$85 million to the government amid ongoing negotiations, but denied allegations by the Malian Ministry of Mines and the Finance Ministry that it had not honored its commitments.

A combination of resource nationalism, coups and jihadist-linked terror is making West Africa an increasingly difficult region to navigate for Western mining companies.