Mali suspends artisanal gold mining permits to foreigners after incidents

Mali has stopped issuing permits for small-scale gold mining to foreign nationals, after several deadly incidents in recent weeks and amid a drop in gold production.

Interim President Assimi Goita urged the government “to strengthen measures to avoid human and environmental tragedies,” Minister of Security and Civil Protection, General Daoud Aly Mohamedinne, said Wednesday. The government stopped local authorities from granting artisanal mining permits to foreign nationals and ordered the seizure of any equipment used to extract gold at small-scale mines.

The move comes as one of Africa’s top gold producers saw a 23% drop in industrial gold output to 51 tons last year from 66.5 tons in 2023, according to government data, and as the junta demands foreign companies adopt a new mining code which raises the state’s stake in foreign mining operations. It has also detained mining executives from Barrick Gold Corp. and Resolute Mining.

Four Barrick staff have been held by the country since November on accusations of money laundering and financing terrorism, allegations the company denies.

Barrick suspended operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex, the country’s biggest gold mine, earlier this year after authorities seized 3 tons of gold from the mine.

Mali’s says that foreign miners including Barrick has failed to pay taxes.

Barrick remains the West African nation’s biggest gold producer with an output of 18 tons in 2024 followed by B2Gold with 12.3 tons and Resolute Mining at 6.7, according to company data.

The country’s informal sector, which has seen several deadly incidents lately, could be as high as about one third of industrial production, according to government estimates.

At least 49 people, many of them women, were killed after an artisanal gold mine collapsed in western Mali last month. The accident took place in an open-pit area where people had gone in search of gold.

(By Diakaridia Dembele and Katarina Höije)