They are hostage to the Ivory coast government in the same way...

They are hostage to the Ivory coast government in the same way they are hostage to the artisanal miners and local community demands.

Prudent for them to lay off staff and cut costs until this exploration licence is resolved (even the licences not yet under renewal as they may get similarly stalled out), but I expect they still have a full payroll sitting around doing little.

Maybe the government takes issue with the proposed merger?
Maybe MKG submitted for less % forfeiture and the validity still being determined? (my guess)
Maybe the CCP offering bribes for licences? (dead cert, whether this is the case here is unknown)
Maybe the Artisanal miners are asking for MKG to be kicked off the lease as they do all of the exploration and mining and MKG just follows them around stealing their ideas, not employing as many people and not paying tax either!