Resolute Mining says CEO, executives held in Mali

Bloomberg News | November 9, 2024 | 

Terry Holohan, chief executive officer of Resolute Mining. Credit: Resolute Mining Ltd.

Terry Holohan, chief executive officer of Australian gold miner Resolute Mining Ltd., has been detained by the military-controlled government of Mali in West Africa, the company said.


Holohan and two other company executives had traveled to Bamako to hold discussions with local mining and tax authorities but were “unexpectedly detained” by government officials after the meetings concluded on Friday, Resolute said Sunday in a statement.

The apparent detention follows a number of arrests in recent weeks targeting fellow gold miner Barrick Gold Corp. employees by the military government which staged a coup d’état in 2020. Four Barrick employees were arrested in October.

Resolute, like other international miners operating in Mali, has been under growing pressure since the military seized power. The company has ramped up production at its Syama project in the nation’s southeast and a second phase of the mine is expected to be in operation in 2025.

“Resolute has followed all official processes with respect to its affairs and has provided the authorities with detailed responses to all the claims made,” the company said in the statement.

“While Resolute is working toward a settlement with the government of Mali to help secure the long-term future of the Syama gold mine, the upmost priority remains the safety and wellbeing of its employees.”

A Mali mining ministry official previously declined to comment when reached by phone.

(By Paul-Alain Hunt, Katarina Höije and William Clowes)