https://www.northernminer.com/
Mali’s military government is trying to arrest the CEO of the world’s second-largest gold company while the junta in Niger has tightened its stranglehold on a French state-owned uranium mine. African dictators are ratcheting up the risk for Western miners.
A combination of resource nationalism, coups and jihadist-linked terror is making West Africa an increasingly difficult region to navigate for Western mining companies. On Monday, Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) warned that it will suspend operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali if shipments of gold remain blocked.
“Local operating conditions have deteroriated significantly with employees imprisoned without cause and gold shipments blocked,” the company said in a release Monday. “If shipments remain suspended, Barrick will be compelled to suspend operations, further impacting the viability of this critical economic driver for Mali.”
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