Barrick CEO Mark Bristow. Credit: Barrick Gold Corp.
Barrick Mining is spending $15 million a month to keep its Mali mine running and doesn’t know where Mali’s government is keeping the gold it confiscated from the Canadian company, CEO Mark Bristow said on Wednesday.
In an interview about the long-running conflict with authorities in the West African nation, Bristow said the government there had walked back on an agreement to settle a tax dispute three times, and called the jailing of Barrick employees in the country a human rights violation.
“You have four executives from a Western world company incarcerated, which can be only described as human rights abuse,” Bristow said.
He said that the jailed executives have worked harder for Mali than the people who are currently leading negotiations for its government. “We don’t know where the gold is; it is allegedly in secure custody, but we…
