A court in Mali has directed that three metric tonnes of gold, valued at roughly $400 million, be handed back to Canada’s Barrick Mining.
The gold was taken in January after a judge authorised its seizure from Barrick’s Loullo-Gounkoto mining complex, with a military helicopter used to carry out the operation.
Since then, the gold has reportedly been stored in a bank vault in Bamako, Mali’s capital.
The seizure followed the introduction of Mali’s new mining code by the military-led government, a policy aimed at increasing the state’s share of revenues from natural resources.
Gold remains central to Mali’s economy, accounting for more than 70 percent of its total exports.
Last month, Barrick and the Malian authorities reached a deal to end a long-running dispute over the company’s operations, bringing to a close nearly two years of negotiations.
Barrick, the country’s largest gold producer, had scaled back parts of its operations after the seizure, condemning the move as a breach of its contractual agreements.
As part of the settlement, the provisional administrator appointed to oversee the Loullo-Gounkoto complex in January is expected to hand control of the site back to Barrick next week.
Under the same agreement, Barrick consented to pay a $437 million settlement and withdraw all arbitration cases it had filed against Mali.
In return, the Malian government agreed to drop all charges against the company, and four Barrick employees who had been detained since November last year have now been released
