Mali’s military junta has closed Barrick Gold Corp.’s ABX-T national office and threatened to seize control of one of its biggest gold mines in a further escalation of a protracted tax dispute, the Toronto-based company says. Barrick says it negotiated an agreement with the Malian regime in February to resolve the dispute, but the deal has been blocked by a small group of individuals for “personal or political reasons.” The company’s long-term future in the West African country is now at risk, it said. In January, in response to the government’s seizure of three tonnes of gold from the mine, Barrick suspended operations at its massive Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex, which accounts for about 14 per cent of the company’s global earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Two months earlier, the government had banned any exports of gold from the mine. “This week, departments within the government escalated matters by closing Barrick’s Bamako office and threatening to place the Loulo-Gounkoto mine under provisional administration unless the mine was reopened and tax payments were made – even though gold exports remain blocked,” Barrick said in a statement on Tuesday. “It is regrettable that the Government continues to obstruct gold exports while simultaneously demanding tax payments on revenue it has actively prevented from being realised.” The company added: “The long-term viability of one of Mali’s most strategic mining assets and a key contributor to the national economy is at risk.” The junta took power in Mali in a military coup in 2021. Since then, it has forged close links to Moscow, recruiting hundreds of Russian soldiers while evicting thousands of French troops and United Nations peacekeepers. The tax dispute began in 2023, when Mali put the squeeze on foreign mining companies to provide more revenue to the government. It introduced a new mining tax code, conducted a special audit of mining companies and arrested a number of senior executives of foreign mining companies, including the chief executive officer of Australia-based Resolute Mining Ltd., which eventually promised to pay US$160-million to settle its tax dispute. Malian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Barrick CEO Mark Bristow last December, accusing him of money-laundering and violating financial regulations. They also arrested and jailed four of Barrick’s senior employees in November. “Four innocent Malian citizens continue to be deprived of their freedom, without any justification nor prospect for a quick solution,” Barrick said on Tuesday. West African countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso were once seen as a lucrative emerging field for Canadian mining investors, with fewer regulations and labour conflicts than traditional mining countries such as South Africa. But in recent years, these countries have been ravaged by insurgencies, terrorist attacks and military coups. Mali’s government has been seeking a reported US$417-million from Barrick to settle the tax issue. The company says it paid US$85-million last October as part of a framework to resolve the dispute. It reached an agreement in February that was “fully negotiated and accepted by the Ministry of Finance,” and the agreement still stands ready to be implemented today, Barrick said in its statement on Tuesday. “Although Barrick signed the agreement presented by the government as requested in February, the government has failed to execute it,” the company said. “Its conclusion now appears to be obstructed by a small group of individuals placing personal or political interests above the long-term interests of Mali and its people.” Barrick says it employs 8,000 people in Mali and has invested more than US$10-billion in the country over the past three decades, contributing about 5 to 10 per cent of Mali’s GDP annually. “As private banks face mounting pressure to keep the country afloat, Barrick has continued to meet its obligations in good faith, paying wages, sustaining workers and contractors’ livelihoods as well as the broader supply chain,” the company said. “However, this situation is not sustainable for the longer term.”