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Earlier this month, the Australian gold mining company’s CEO
Terence Holohan and the two others were detained in Mali's
capital Bamako on Nov. 8 as they were visiting the country for
talks over an unspecified dispute. The government did not say
why they were detained.
Andrew Wray, the company’s non-executive chairman, said in a
statement published on Resolute Mining’s website that all claims
against the company made by Malian authorities, “including those
related to tax, customs levies, maintenance and management of
offshore accounts” are settled.
The company will pay Mali $80 million from “existing cash
reserves," with an additional payment of $80 million in the
“coming months," he added.
Resolute said the company's CEO and two employees were “safe and
well,” and that it was working with Mali's authorities for their
release.
The Australian company has been working for years at Mali’s
Syama gold mine, a large-scale operation in the country’s
southwest. It holds an 80% stake in mine, while the Malian
government holds the remaining 20%.
The arrest is the latest controversy in Mali’s foreign-dominated
and crucial mining sector, increasingly scrutinized by the
military authorities. Four employees of Canadian company Barrick
Gold also were detained for days in September.
Mali is one of Africa's leading gold producers, but has
struggled for many years with jihadi violence and high levels of
poverty and hunger. The military seized power in 2020 and since
then the junta has placed foreign mining companies under growing
pressure as it seeks to shore up the government's revenues.
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