By Paul-Alain Hunt, Katarina Höije and William Clowes
Terry Holohan, the chief executive of Australian gold miner Resolute Mining, has been detained by the military-controlled government of Mali in West Africa, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Holohan and other company executives were taken by Mali’s junta over the weekend, said the people, who weren’t authorised to speak publicly.
Resolute Mining chief executive Terry Holohan has been detained in Mali.Credit: Resolute website
Perth-based Resolute Mining declined to comment. A Mali mining ministry official declined to comment when reached by phone. Holohan’s detainment was earlier reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
ASX and London Stock Exchange -listed Resolute, valued at over $1 billion, holds an 80 per cent stake in Société des Mines de Syama S.A., which owns Syama’s north-western gold mine. The Malian government controls the remaining 20 per cent.
The Australian mining company also operates the Mako gold mine in neighbouring Senegal, which is owned and operated by Resolute’s Senegalese subsidiary, Petowal Mining Company S.A. Resolute also owns the Ravenswood gold mine in Australia and the Bibiani gold mine in Ghana.
The AFP report, citing a judiciary source, said the Resolute executives were arrested on Friday in the Malian capital Bamako and subsequently detained by a specialised anti-corruption and financial crime unit.
International miners operating in Mali have been under pressure since the military seized power in the country.Credit: Bloomberg
AFP also reported, citing a Resolute executive speaking on the condition of anonymity, that the executives were being questioned over suspicions of providing false evidence and misappropriation of public goods.
The Resolute executive has also told the AFP that the miner denies the allegation, but efforts to convince the Malian authorities have failed so far.
Holohan, who joined Resolute in 2021 as chief operating officer, was promoted to chief executive and managing director in 2022.
The detention of the Resolute executives follows a number of recent arrests targeting employees of fellow gold miner Barrick Gold, by the military government, which staged a coup in 2020.
Four Barrick employees were arrested in September for alleged financial crimes. They were released in October as the Canadian miner agreed to resolve existing claims and disputes between it and the Malian government.
Resolute, like other international miners operating in Mali, has been under growing pressure since the military seized power. The company has increased production at its Syama project in the nation’s south-east and a second phase of the mine is expected to be in operation in 2025.
Gold is Mali’s major export, contributing to a quarter of the national budget and three-quarters of the country’s export earnings. The mining sector is dominated by foreign groups, including Barrick and B2Gold, and Britain’s Hummingbird Resources.
Last year, Mali’s military-led government signed into law a new mining code designed to increase local ownership of gold mining facilities and raise the revenue it derives from them. The code allows state and local investors to lift their stakes as high as 35 per cent in mining projects, compared to the previous limit of 20 per cent.
In October, Resolute said it had a ‘mining convention’ for its gold licences in Mali until 2029 and was working with the government in a “clear, constructive and responsible manner.”
Bloomberg, with staff reporter
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