Mali’s junta government, under Assimi Goïta, has created a new ministerial-level role in Mali’s lucrative mining sector.
The new office would be in charge of supervising the sector, indirectly fostering the president’s direct control over the country’s gold industry.
The Malian president appointed a former Barrick Mining executive to take on the new position.
Mali and Barrick Gold have had a rough relationship in recent years.
Mali and Barrick Gold
The dispute, which began from Mali’s aspiration to have more autonomy over its resources, erupted after Malian officials took three metric tons of Barrick’s gold, worth around $400 million, in a military helicopter operation carried out under a judicial confiscation order, in January, 2025.
As a result, Barrick said the seizure negated its insurance coverage and necessitated a temporary suspension of operations.
In 2024, Mali claimed almost $500 million in overdue taxes from Barrick, but the firm claims it operated lawfully and paid the government $85 million in October of the same year.
The gold taken in the military helicopter was kept in a bank vault in Bamako for nearly a year before an agreement was reached.
Shortly after, Barrick Gold officially resumed operational control of its flagship gold mining complex in Mali.
Mali’s new mining supervisor
Based on a presidential decree dated January 19, as seen on Reuters, Hilaire Bebian Diarra, an earth-science specialist who defected from Barrick to the government last year while directing the negotiations for the firm for control of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex, has been appointed to the position.
During the heated conflict over Mali’s largest industrial gold mine, the Malian citizen was appointed special adviser to the presidency as Assimi Goita’s administration pushed for increased state involvement in mining operations and higher taxation.
The Canadian miner suffered a strategic setback as a result of the move.
Diarra’s appointment aligns with Mali’s tightening control over its largest source of income, the mining industry, under a 2023 mining legislation that, according to the government in December, helped recover 761 billion CFA francs ($1.2 billion) in backlog.
