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Australia’s Resolute Mining said on Monday that it would pay $160 million to Mali’s government to help resolve a tax dispute after the West African country detained its CEO Terence Holohan and two other employees this month.
Resolute has made an initial payment of $80 million as part of the settlement from existing cash reserves and will make future payments of about $80 million in the coming months from existing liquidity sources, it said in a statement.
After the news, Resolute shares fell as much as 14.3% in early trading on Monday to A$0.345, their lowest since March 1.
The detained employees were in Mali’s capital Bamako to hold discussions with mining and tax authorities regarding general activities related to the company’s business practices, the company said last week.
Resolute is currently working with the Mali government to release the detained employees, who remain “safe and well” and are receiving support from the UK and international embassies and consulates, the miner said on Monday.
“We are supporting three British nationals who have been detained in Mali and are in contact with the local authorities,” the British government’s foreign office said in response to their detention.
Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers and the detention of mining company employees, which have also included some senior local staff at Canada’s Barrick Gold, is becoming part of a pattern as the government seeks to extract more income from the sector.
Resolute’s gold mine in Syama, Mali – one of its two operational mines – contributed nearly two-thirds of its annual sales of 329,061 ounces in 2023. Resolute owns an 80% stake in the project, while Mali’s government holds the rest.
“The company notes that operations on site continue as normal and have not been impacted,” Resolute said in its statement.
(By Sherin Sunny and Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Jamie Freed and Marguerita Choy)
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