Mali renews Barrick's Loulo mining permit for ten years

Mali has granted Barrick a ten-year renewal of the mining permit for its Loulo project, part of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex, formalising the settlement the two sides reached in November after a near two-year dispute.

The renewal, announced this week, was one of the conditions of that settlement: in exchange, Barrick has withdrawn its arbitration case at the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, while Mali has dropped legal charges against Barrick and its subsidiaries and moved to release detained employees, restoring full operational control of the complex to the company.

What the renewal covers

Under the renewed permit, Loulo is projected to produce around 420,920 ounces of gold a year, with a mine plan spanning six more years of open-pit mining followed by sixteen years of underground operations. That timeline points to a significant shift in how the complex will be mined over the coming decade, extending its life well beyond what open-pit reserves alone would support.

Loulo-Gounkoto is Mali's largest gold producer and generated roughly $900m in revenue in 2024, underscoring why both sides had strong incentives to reach a settlement rather than let the dispute drag on indefinitely. The underlying disagreement stemmed from Mali's 2023 mining code, which raised taxes on gold miners and increased the state's stake in mining projects — terms Barrick initially resisted before accepting them as part of the wider settlement.

Why it matters

For Barrick, a decade-long permit removes a major source of uncertainty that had weighed on the stock and on the company's broader Mali strategy since the mine was suspended in January 2025 and later placed under a state-appointed administrator. It also gives the company a firmer basis to plan and fund the underground expansion implied by the new mine plan, rather than operating year to year under threat of another shutdown.

For Mali, locking in a ten-year commitment from its biggest gold miner supports the government's aim of maximising long-term revenue from the sector under its new code, while demonstrating to other investors that disputes with the state can still end in a negotiated, rather than purely adversarial, outcome.

What's next

Attention now turns to execution: Barrick will need to ramp Loulo-Gounkoto back towards its pre-dispute production levels and begin the studies and capital planning required for the underground transition. Investors will also be watching whether the remaining terms of the settlement — including the withdrawal of legal proceedings and release of any detained staff — are completed in full.

Sources

• Mining Technology: Mali grants ten-year renewal for Barrick's Loulo project permit, 16 Feb 2026