As Barrick have stated in their release and webinar, and in the financials, they have been ordered to replace Western staff by training up Malians to take over all those jobs and run the gold plant.
Companies like Leo have also been ordered to do the same.
Barrick paid an additional $370 million in taxes last year, on no production increase.
And the Russians are building, for free, the Malians a gold refinery in Bamako.
If you read between the lines, this looks like it will eventually add up to only one (1) conclusion.
That is the nationalization of all mines in Mali by the government, once all the Western companies have obeyed the new laws and trained all the Malians up in running all the mines.
It may take 2 or 3 years, but this seems inevitable to me now.
And it's not unusual. For example, Mexico has nationalized all Lithium mines, and Niger has nationalized all oil and gas projects, and there are many other examples now of similar resource nationalism sweeping continents like Africa and South America.
This does not bode well for Barrick or Leo, or the other gold miners in Mali.
The only winners from this will be the Junta and Wagner.
Gw
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