Malian President Signs New Mining Code

Malian interim President Assimi Goita has signed into law a new mining code which will allow the military-led government to increase its ownership of gold concessions and recoup what it says is a major shortfall in production revenues.
The new code signed, will allow the state and local investors to take stakes as high as 35% in mining projects compared with 20% now, and could double the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product the government has said.

It was not immediately clear if the code would affect existing projects.

A mining ministry official said last week that this would depend on the implementing decrees, which have not yet been made available.

Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers and is home to mining companies including Barrick Gold, B2Gold, Resolute Mining and Hummingbird Resources.

Mali’s Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou said on Monday evening that an audit of the mining sector had shown that the state was missing 300 billion to 600 billion CFA francs ($497 million to $995 million) which it intended to recover.

Reuters/Jane Aluko