Gold Giant Barrick Gold Begins Layoffs Amid Dispute with Mali

Hundreds of employees and subcontractors employed by Toronto-based mining giant Barrick Gold have been laid off in Mali after the company’s offices were shuttered last week amid an escalating dispute with the Malian government.

According to Reuters, some subcontractors have gone unpaid for months. One, U.S.-based Boart Longyear, has begun liquidating its Malian subsidiary. Three additional subcontractors have reportedly laid off their entire staff, while the fate of two others remains uncertain, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

The dispute traces back to 2023, when the Malian government revised its mining laws to mandate greater state control and ownership over the extraction of critical mineral resources. In January, Malian authorities suspended operations at Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto complex—Mali’s largest gold mine and Barrick’s second-largest operation globally—seizing nearly three tons of gold and accusing the company of failing to pay taxes.

Last week, authorities in Bamako officially shut down Barrick’s offices over the tax dispute and issued threats to nationalize the company’s assets.

Since seizing power in a 2021 coup, Mali’s military-led government under General Assimi Goïta has pushed to assert greater control over the country's estimated 350 gold mines, long dominated by Western firms. The loss of control and profits by these companies has fueled rising tensions between Western powers and the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—now members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

This week, Burkina Faso—Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer—announced it had thwarted a significant coup attempt against President Ibrahim Traoré. The alleged attempt came just one day after the U.S. accused Traoré, who since 2023 has also sought to reclaim state control over gold resources, of hoarding gold reserves and threatened him with arrest.