Barrick Gold Executive in Mali Declares, If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

Sept. 19—The infamous Barrick Gold suffered another setback recently in its dispute with the Sahel state of Mali over its mining concession, when Barrick’s general manager and chief negotiator in Mali decided to switch sides and join the Mali government as a consultant.

Hilaire Diarra was the general manager of Barrick’s Tongon Gold Mine in Ivory Coast before he was appointed as special counsellor to Mali’s President. Diarra had been negotiating the Canadian mining company’s efforts to regain control of its Loulo-Gounkoto gold-mining complex. The Malian government has been pursuing a policy of exerting more control over its gold, uranium and other resources.

Mali’s government has been negotiating with Barrick since 2023 over the implementation of a new mining code that raises taxes and gives the government a greater share of its gold mines. The Loulo-Gounkoto gold mining complex has been under a Malian court-appointed provisional administrator since last June after Barrick suspended its operations at the mine. A former Barrick executive, Samba Touré, is now a member of the provisional administration running operations at the complex.