Mali completes takeover of Yatela and Morila mines abandoned by foreign owners

Mali's government announced at the end of June 2025 that it had completed the takeover of the Yatela and Morila gold mines, both abandoned years earlier by their foreign owners, in the latest step in the military government's campaign to reassert control over the country's mineral wealth.

The Yatela mine in the western Kayes region was abandoned in 2016 after Sadiola Exploration Company, a joint venture between South Africa's AngloGold Ashanti and Canada's IAMGOLD, judged that low gold prices made continued operation uneconomical despite unexploited reserves. The Morila mine in the southern Sikasso region was similarly abandoned in 2022 by Australia's Firefinch, which had acquired stakes originally held by Barrick Mining and AngloGold Ashanti, leaving what the government described as significant environmental and financial liabilities.

A new operator, an old set of problems

Responsibility for reviving the two mines now rests with the state-owned mining company SOREM, though the government's statement gave no detail on how operations would be funded or run. That silence matters: extracting further value from two mines already judged uneconomical by experienced international operators, while environmental liabilities remain unresolved, will be no easy task.

Part of a wider pattern

The takeovers mirror moves by Mali's Sahelian neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger, both of which have nationalised mining assets over the past year as military governments seek to leverage high commodity prices and reduce dependence on Western investors. Mali's junta, in power since coups in 2020 and 2021, has pressured foreign miners since taking power through higher taxes, revised contracts and regulatory crackdowns, alongside a broader pivot toward Russian partners.

Mali produces roughly 65 tonnes of gold a year, making it Africa's second-largest producer after Ghana. Strong gold prices — driven partly by the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump and wider geopolitical uncertainty — have made the timing of the nationalisation drive more financially attractive, even as questions persist over Mali's capacity to operate mines without the technical expertise of the departed multinationals.

What to watch

The government's handling of Yatela and Morila will be an early test of SOREM's operational credibility, at the same time as Bamako pursued its separate, higher-profile dispute with Barrick over the still-active Loulo-Gounkoto complex. How successfully the state manages mines that private companies walked away from will shape investor perceptions of Mali's broader nationalisation strategy.

Sources

• TimesLIVE: Mali completes takeover of gold mines abandoned by foreign companies, 01 Jul 2025

Photo: Aerial view of Bamako, the Malian capital from which the government has directed its takeover of abandoned gold mines. Mark Fischer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.