Mali recovers $1.2 billion in arrears from miners under new code

Mali has recovered  more than a billion dollars in arrears from mining companies after a sweeping audit, its finance minister, Alousséni Sanou, said on Tuesday. 

It’s one of the country’s biggest ever clawbacks from its lucrative mining sector.

The military-led government launched an audit of the sector in early 2023 and uncovered massive shortfalls for the state. That paved the way for a new mining code that raises royalties, boosts the state’s ownership in mining companies and scraps stability clauses. 

A recovery commission was set up after an audit flagged financial irregularities and shortfalls for the state estimated at between half a billion and a billion dollars.

The overhaul of the industry triggered a two-year dispute with Canada’s Barrick Mining, Mali’s top gold producer, before a deal was struck in November.

Sanou didn't say whether the recovered sum included Barrick’s recent deal.

The new measures are expected to increase annual revenues for the state by hundreds of millions of dollars. 

The renegotiation committee said the goal was not only to recover funds but also to give the state a larger stake in mining contracts.

Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers and relies heavily on mining for export earnings and fiscal revenues.