Gold mines in Mali: the junta places the CEO of the Australian Resolute in detention

Terry Holohan, chief executive of Australian mining company Resolute Mining Ltd., has been detained by the Malian junta, confirmed to Bloomberg sources close to the case. Holohan and several other company executives were arrested this Friday, November 8 in Bamako, specify these sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Based in Perth, Australia, Resolute Mining declined to comment. An official from the Malian Ministry of Mines also refused to react to the situation when contacted by telephone. The information was first reported by AFP.

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Executives were arrested In a hotel in the Malian capital and taken the same day to the specialized center installed under the junta with the aim of combating corruption and economic and financial delinquency, we learned from a judicial source. They are questioned in police custody in a case of alleged forgery and infringement of goods public, said a company official speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to cause harm to the company. He refuted the suspicions, but said attempts to convince investigators had so far failed.

Resolute holds 80% of the shares of the subsidiary that owns the mine of Syama (southwest), the remaining 20% ​​being in the hands of the Malian state, indicates the company website. Resolute also owns the Mako gold production site in neighboring Senegal and is engaged in exploration in these two countries and in Guinea.

Increased pressures

Note that since the first quarter of this year, the junior mining company recorded a drop in its gold production in Mali. While Resolute, the country’s third largest producer, expected to extract 345,000 to 365,000 ounces of gold by the end of 2024, its forecasts were revised downwards, to between 205,000 and 215,000 ounces, according to the latest activity report of the company, published on October 29.

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This is the second time in just over a month that employees of a foreign mining company have been worried. These companies are under increased pressure from the junta, which pays particular attention to lucrative revenues from the mining industry. THE authorities Malians have made the fight against corruption and the restoration of national sovereignty over natural resources their mantras. Mali is one of the leading gold producers in Africa. Gold contributes to a quarter of the national budget and three quarters of export earnings.

The foreign companies that dominate the mining sector have recently borne the brunt of the increased control effort by the junta. Four employees of the Canadian company Barrick Gold were detained for several days at the end of September, then released. Barrick Gold indicated that it had reached an agreement with the State and had paid 50 billion in October F CFA (80 million euros). But the State assured at the end of October that Barrick Gold had not kept its commitments and threatened to attack it. The increased pressure exerted on foreign companies coincided with the strategic pivot made by the junta towards the Russia.

(with AFP)