Arrest of three executives of an Australian mining company

AA / Bath, CT / Oumar Sankare

Three executives from an Australian mining company have been detained in Bamako, Mali. They are to be questioned in connection with a case of falsification and damage to public property, informed sources confirmed.

Terry Holohan, general director of Resolute Mining Ltd, was arrested by the Malian junta, a Justice Ministry source told Anadolu.

Holohan and two other company executives were arrested on Friday, said the same source, on condition of anonymity. Contacted by telephone, two officials from the Ministry of Mines did not wish to communicate on this matter.

The directors of Resolute Mining Ltd, which owns 80% of the Syama gold mine in the southwest of the country, are being questioned as part of an investigation into allegations of forgery and use of forgery and damage to public goods. These accusations were strongly refuted by a company official, who also requested anonymity.

Foreign companies that dominate the mining sector have recently suffered from the military regime’s measures to control the sector. Four employees of the Canadian company Barrick Gold were detained for several days in September.

Barrick Gold had reached an agreement with the state and paid 50 billion CFA francs ($81 million) in October. But the transitional government said the gold company had failed to meet its commitments.

The increased pressure on foreign companies coincides with the junta’s strategic shift in favor of Russia, ending defense deals with former colonizer France.

Since taking power in 2020, Mali’s military leaders have pledged to ensure a more equitable distribution of mining revenues.

In May, Australian group Firefinch said it would transfer – for a symbolic dollar – all its shares in the Morila gold mine, as well as its mining rights in the West African country, to Sorem , a state-funded company founded in 2022.

Despite being one of Africa’s leading gold producers, the Sahel country is also one of the poorest in the world.

*Translated from English by Mourad Belhaj

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