AfriqueCAN
Four employees of Canada’s Barrick Gold have been charged and detained pending trial in Mali, the company said on Tuesday, as the military-led government strives to raise more money from mining companies.
Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers and briefly arrested four senior local employees of Barrick in September. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the same employees had been arrested again.
Barrick refutes the charges against its employees, the company said in a statement, without detailing the charges. It added it would continue to engage with Mali’s government to find an amicable settlement and secure the release of detainees.
“Since September 30, the company had been actively seeking to finalize a Memorandum of Agreement that would guide Barrick’s partnership with the government in future, including the state’s share of the economic benefits,” the statement said.