The Canadian “Barric Gold” company, working in the field of gold mining, asked the World Bank’s jury to interfere in the ongoing legal procedures in Mali, which may lead to the operation of the “Lulu-Gonkoto” mine by a temporary administration of the military government in Pamako.
This request comes before the upcoming ruling of a local court in Mali today, Monday, June 2, based on a government plan, to put the Gold Mine of the Canadian company under temporary management.
If the court ruled in the interest of the financial government, a non -affiliated party will be appointed to the Canadian company to take over the operation of the mine and resume work in it.
The mine had stopped working since last January, after the financial authorities confiscated the company’s stores, as it confiscated 3 tons of gold, and arrested a group of senior employees.
Last Wednesday, Barric Gold applied to the International Bank for the World Bank’s investment dispute to intervene and take temporary measures to prevent the operation of the mine.
International lawyer Timothy Fouden said that “temporary measures” means that Barrick asks the arbitration body to issue an order that obliges the financial government not to take any additional measures that would exacerbate the conflict, including its efforts to put the mine under transitional management.
The beginning of the crisis
The crisis between Mali and Barric Gold returns to the beginning of last year, when the ruling military council approved a new mining law, aiming to increase control of the gold sector controlled by Western companies.
The authorities in Bamako said that they seek through the new law to increase their revenues from the mining sector, and fight tax evasion, and stressed that foreign companies must abide by their conditions if they want to continue working inside the country.
In conjunction with the issuance of the law, the government obliged a number of companies to pay financial fines, accusing it of tax evasion and falsifying the numbers related to the volume of production.
Most mining companies responded to the government’s demands, with the exception of Barric Gold, who refused to give up and say they have invested in the financial economy for more than 20 years, accusing the current authorities of extortion and demanding amounts outside the conditions of work.
The financial authorities had closed the company’s regional office in the capital, Bamako, which led to the transfer of a number of employees abroad, and the demobilization of some local contractors.