Barrick’s seized Mali gold mine restarts under state management - Bloomberg

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Operations restarted at Barrick Mining's (NYSE:B [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/B]) Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine in Mali for the first time in more than nine months, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, after a state administrator took over the mine in June.

Production activity resumed at the massive mine late last week after a deal was reached to restart payments to contractors, which had been suspended when Barrick (NYSE:B [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/B]) shuttered the complex in January, according to the report [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-21/barrick-s-seized-mali-gold-mine-restarts-under-state-management].

The Loulo-Gounkoto mine, which produced 723,000 oz of gold in 2024, is one of Barrick’s (B [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/B]) most important assets, and the seizure of the asset has meant the company has been unable to fully capitalize on bullion's record-breaking rally this year.

The dispute between Barrick (B [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/B]) and the Mali government over alleged back taxes and new mining legislation dates back to 2023, although other miners including Allied Gold and B2Gold have resolved similar disputes [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4497870-mali-signs-seven-new-mining-deals-under-revised-code-but-not-with-barrick] by concluding agreements with the government.

Barrick (B [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/B]) shares closed -9.3% on Tuesday, plunging with other precious metals stocks as gold futures suffered the largest one-day dollar decline on record [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4506413-gold-and-silver-suffer-historic-one-day-drop-but-most-analysts-say-long-term-uptrend-remains].

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