Australian gold company confirms arrest of CEO, 2 executives in Mali, company’s shares plunge

Lt. Col. Assimi Goita, center, attends an independence day military parade in Bamako, Mali on Sept. 22, 2022. (AP Photo, File)

Published 6:05 PM ET, Monday November 11, 2024

Bamako: The CEO and two executives of Australian gold mine Resolute in Mali have been arrested while in Bamako to discuss ongoing disputes with authorities, the company confirmed Sunday.

CEO Terence Holohan and his two colleagues “were in Bamako to discuss with mining and tax authorities the company’s business practices in Mali generally and to make progress on ongoing claims against Resolute, which continues to claim they are unfounded,” Resolute said in a statement posted on its website.

“Unexpectedly, the three employees were arrested after the end of these meetings on Friday,” she reported.

The three executives were taken the same day to the unit specializing in the fight against corruption and economic and financial delinquency and were placed in police custody in a case of alleged forgery and damage to public property, AFP learned Saturday from a judicial and industrial source.

Four employees of the Canadian company Barrick Gold, also in dispute with the Malian authorities, were detained for several days at the end of September, then released. Foreign mining companies are subject to increased pressure from the junta that came to power by force in 2020 and pays particular attention to the juicy revenues of the mining industry.

“Resolute is working to reach an agreement with the Malian government that secures the long-term future of the Syama gold mine; at the same time, its top priority remains the safety and well-being of its employees,” the company said.

The executives benefit from the support of the embassies and consulates of the United Kingdom and other countries present in Mali, she said.

Resolute holds 80% of the shares in the subsidiary that owns the Syama mine, with the remaining 20% in the hands of the Malian state, according to the company’s website.

The Malian authorities have made the fight against corruption and the restoration of national sovereignty over natural resources their mantras.

Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, faces jihadis and a multidimensional crisis and is also one of the leading gold producers in Africa. Gold contributes to a quarter of the national budget and three quarters of export revenues.

The increased pressure on foreign companies coincided with the junta’s strategic pivot toward Russia.

Meanwhile, shares in the miner fell as much as 32% early on Monday, their biggest intraday decline since October 2008, valuing the company at just over A$1 billion ($660 million).