Mali detains top executive and 2 others from gold mining company over dispute

YAOUNDE, Cameroon -- The military junta in Mali has arrested the top executive and two other employees of Australia’s gold mining company Resolute Mining while they were visiting the country for talks over an unspecified dispute, the company said Monday.

The three – including the chief executive Terence Holohan – were detained last Friday in Mali's capital of Bamako.

Andrew Wray, the company’s non-executive chairman, said in a statement published on Resolute Mining's website that the three officials were “unexpectedly detained” after a discussions about “claims made against" the company, without elaborating.

There was no information why the three were still detained, three days later.

The Australian company has been working for years at Mali’s Syama gold mine, a large-scale operation in the country’s southwest. It holds an 80% stake in mine while the Malian government holds the remaining 20%.

The arrest is the latest controversy in Mali's foreign-dominated and crucial mining sector, increasingly scrutinized by the military authorities. Four employees of Canadian company Barrick Gold were also detained for days in September.

Resolute Mining said the claims made against the company were “unsubstantiated” and that it has followed due process in conducting its affairs in Mali. It is being assisted on the issue by foreign embassies in Mali, including that of the United Kingdom, it said.

It is among several foreign companies that have for years dominated the mining sector in Mali, one of Africa’s leading gold producers which have for many years struggled with jihadi violence and high levels of poverty and hunger.

The companies have faced growing pressure under the military which seized power in 2020 as it seeks to shore up revenues in the mining sector.