A Bamako commercial court has handed control of Barrick Gold’s flagship Loulo-Gounkoto complex to a state-appointed administrator for six months, the latest volley in an eighteen-month tax dispute that has already frozen exports and halted mining since January. The bench named Soumana Makadji, a former Malian health minister and accountant, as provisional manager; Barrick says it will file an immediate appeal.
The move stems from Mali’s 2023 mining code, which raised royalty rates and lets the government lift its carried interest in new projects to 30%. In November, customs officers seized three tonnes of doré and blocked further shipments, claiming the Canadian producer owed back taxes. Early this year a Bamako court issued an arrest warrant for chief executive Mark Bristow on money-laundering and terrorism-financing allegations—charges Barrick rejects as politically motivated.
Loulo-Gounkoto normally generates about 14 % of Barrick’s annual gold output and more than US $1 billion in revenue. With the site on care and maintenance, the company is burning roughly US $15 million a month in overhead while forgoing about US $1.24 billion in yearly sales, according to court filings and company estimates. BMO Capital Markets now assumes production will not restart before 2026 and has raised its discount rate on the asset to 12 %, citing a higher risk of permanent loss. 
Barrick says it offered multiple concessions—including accelerated tax payments and a larger local procurement budget—but refused terms it believes would breach its existing convention. Parallel arbitration is under way at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, where Barrick seeks emergency measures to halt the takeover.
For Mali’s junta, the confrontation is a test case for its tougher resource policies. Interim president Assimi Goïta has pushed through legislation mandating local refining and bigger state stakes, mirroring steps in Guinea, Niger and Burkina Faso. Investors, however, warn the administrator precedent could chill fresh capital across the Sahel, just as the region races to monetise record gold prices.
