logo
Mali's military helicopter airlifts $117 million worth of gold from Barrick's mine amidst tension

Mali's military helicopter airlifts $117 million worth of gold from Barrick's mine amidst tension

Malian military helicopters made an unannounced landing at Barrick Gold Corp.'s mine on Thursday and seized over a metric ton of gold, the company said.
Malian military helicopters seized over a metric ton of gold at a Barrick Gold Corp. mine in an unannounced operation.
Mali's actions are part of broader trends in the Sahel region, where resource control by military governments is increasing.
The confiscation follows actions to fund operations through gold sales amidst disputes over mining profits and regulations.
Malian military helicopters made an unannounced landing at Barrick Gold Corp.'s mine on Thursday and seized over a metric ton of gold, the company said.
On Thursday morning, a brown-and-green military helicopter landed at the Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine's tree-lined airstrip, according to a source familiar with the matter. The passengers were escorted by the mine's security team to the processing plant, where the gold room is located.
Roughly five hours later, the helicopter departed with gold bullion on board, a source told Reuters.
Barrick said the helicopters landed 'unannounced' and seized over one metric ton of gold, roughly 2,204 pounds, potentially for sale by the court-appointed administrator. However, the company noted that the situation remains fluid, and the final intent is still unclear.
One metric ton of gold was worth approximately $117.2 million on Thursday, based on gold prices trading around $3,324 per ounce, Bloomberg reported.
Earlier in January, Business Insider Africa reported that the Malian government confiscated three metric tons of gold from the Loulo-Gounkoto mine, with sources estimating the value of the seized bullion at approximately $245 million.
Growing tensions
These developments have further escalated tensions in Mali's mining sector, where the government has been tightening its grip and pushing for a larger share of profits from resource extraction.
The standoff dates back to 2023 when Mali's cash-strapped military regime began demanding that foreign investors pay alleged back taxes and comply with a new mining code granting the state greater royalties and increased equity in joint ventures.
The conflict has since deepened, with authorities detaining senior executives from Barrick and even issuing an arrest warrant for the company's CEO, Mark Bristow.
While Barrick's dispute remains unresolved, other major gold miners operating in Mali, including B2Gold Corp., have reached settlements involving state payments and higher royalty rates.
Tensions in Mali's mining sector mirror a broader trend across the Sahel, where military governments are asserting control.
In neighbouring Burkina Faso, the junta has threatened to revoke mining permits, while in Niger, authorities recently seized a French-operated uranium site, moves that have alarmed Western mining companies.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

41-year-old lawyer relocated to Paris, has no plans of moving back to the U.S.: 'It's where I'm supposed to be in the world'
41-year-old lawyer relocated to Paris, has no plans of moving back to the U.S.: 'It's where I'm supposed to be in the world'

CNBC

time3 hours ago

  • CNBC

41-year-old lawyer relocated to Paris, has no plans of moving back to the U.S.: 'It's where I'm supposed to be in the world'

After law school, Adriel Sanders, 41, found work as a corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions attorney. But she didn't enjoy practicing law. "The whole firm knew it. It was not a well-kept secret. I tried to pretend like I wanted to be a partner, but I couldn't maintain that image. I didn't even want to be a lawyer," Sanders, tells CNBC Make It. "I didn't enjoy the work and the expectation to work all the time and I will probably be one of the only attorneys who says it, but I don't think it's that intellectually stimulating." Sanders, who goes by Adriel Felise online, quit that job and eventually went to work as general counsel for a publicly traded company. At the time, Sanders was living in Washington, D.C. and making $286,656 a year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. She lived in a studio apartment and paid about $3,000 a month in rent. "What stereotypically happens to most Black women when they work in corporate America is the type of things I experienced my whole career. You're constantly hitting up against this glass ceiling," Sanders says. "I was deeply and truly miserable at the very depths of my little heart and little soul. I knew that it was not sustainable." While working her 9-to-5, Sanders dreamt of starting her own clothing line. She even pursued photography in her free time as a way to escape the endless grind of her career. "Photography was very much my creative outlet. For me, starting a fashion line is about doing what I should have always been doing and not about leaving a secure career. I feel like I'm stepping into my purpose," Sanders says. In 2017, Sanders and her two brothers went to Paris for the first time. That trip changed everything. When they first arrived in the city, Sanders was a bit disgruntled after having an uncomfortable flight. Her younger brother reminded her to look around and take in where they were. "It instantly clicked. I was like, 'This is your home. This is where you're supposed to be in the world and this is where you will always be," she says. "I knew I had to move to Paris." Sanders traveled back to Paris several times after that first visit. "The moment I stepped off the plane, I felt like I could just breathe," she says. In 2019, she decided she would make the move across the Atlantic. At the beginning of 2020, Sanders quit her job, gave her landlord notice, and started the process to obtain a French visa. She contacted Adrian Leeds from HGTV's "House Hunters International" to help find an apartment and flew to France for a few days while a moving company packed up her belongings and prepared to ship it all overseas. Sanders landed in Paris the day before France closed its border due to the covid-19 pandemic. "The slowness of the world meant that France sped up. We were all operating from the same level of confusion, so the good thing is that I was confused by what was happening, but so was everyone else," Sanders says. "I arrived the day before the lockdown, so there was no one and it was a complete dystopia." Sanders signed a lease for a one-bedroom apartment that cost 1,550 euros, or $1,815 USD, where she lived for two years. She then moved into a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment and signed a three-year lease. The rent was 1,980 euros or $2,319 when she first moved in. It has since increased to $2,540 USD. Sanders lives in what they call an "unfurnished apartment" in Paris, which means she had to purchase her own kitchen cabinets, stove, and washing machine. She estimates that she spent about $5,000 on the kitchen and close to another $10,000 to make the place really feel like home. "Could I have done it cheaper, 100% but my view is that I don't know when I will leave so I want to have things the way I want them," she says. In addition to rent, Sanders spends, on average, about 963 euros or $1,128 per month on expenses, which include household bills like cable, internet, renter's insurance, dry cleaning, electricity and gas, private health insurance, and a Navigo transportation card. She also has an annual subscription to the Louvre, which costs 95 euros a year and a second museum card that can add an extra 50-100 euros a year to her expenses. She also pays 1,069.20 euros or $1,252 annually to a guarantor service, which allows her to continue renting in France. When Sanders first arrived in Paris, she did some consulting as a lawyer but decided it was finally time to bet on herself. She says she had about $200,000 in her business account and $70,000 in personal savings when she quit that job and put all of her focus on creating her fashion brand, Adriel Felise, and becoming a content creator. That money and her income from content creation helps to fund Sanders' new business venture. Her parents are retired and have been able to help her out as well. "I'm grateful for it because it gives me the cushion to do the runway launching for the fashion line and that to me is the most important goal. It gives me the freedom to know that I'm not going to fall and can pursue my dream," she says. Sanders is self-funding the production of her initial samples and prototypes, but hopes to raise at least $2 million and have her 10-piece collection ready for launch in 2026. Sanders says leaving the United States and her corporate law career behind helped her realize she's more resourceful than she thought. "I can use my strategic side that I learned as a lawyer, but implement it in a very creative way." she says. "I love fashion and I'm so happy that I can now just say that and be upfront about it because for so long it was treated as something that made me less serious." When Sanders was working as a lawyer, she used to take walks around her office building and dream about starting a fashion line, and now seeing it come to life still doesn't feel real. "There's still a part of me that strives and pushes for more so I don't know if I'm fully ready to say I'm proud but I feel like I'm actually happy, which I wasn't for so long and that's huge for me," she says. "My goal and desire is to inspire women — particularly black and brown women — to just pursue their dreams and goals. When they do it does not matter. The most important thing is that they be bold, move wisely, and just go for it." Sanders plans to keep Paris as her home base and eventually buy a home in the countryside. Since moving, Sanders has traveled all over France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, and more. She is currently making plans to spend the rest of the summer in the Loire Valley or Normandy in northern France. "I wish I had had the courage to move sooner. I wish I had the courage to do it after my first semester of law school to either drop out or enroll in business school and do something different that would have given me more options and choice to not get pigeonholed into something that I knew from the beginning I didn't want to be," she says. "I know that Americans really love to classify based upon age, race, etc. but I don't want to be classified as anything other than a woman who believed in herself enough to ignore the naysayers and go for her hopes and dreams."

A legacy Napa Valley winery has sold. Here's the buyer
A legacy Napa Valley winery has sold. Here's the buyer

San Francisco Chronicle​

time7 hours ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

A legacy Napa Valley winery has sold. Here's the buyer

A well-regarded, family-owned winery in Napa Valley is changing hands. Founder Bill Harrison has sold his William Harrison Vineyards & Winery to members of two other long-standing Napa winemaking families: the Clarks, of Amizetta Estate Winery in the Lake Hennessey area, and the Longs, of David Arthur Vineyards on Pritchard Hill. The deal includes William Harrison's nearly 9-acre property on the Silverado Trail in the Rutherford district. A purchase price was not disclosed. The winery will be renamed William Perry, after two of the new owners, William Edward Clark and Perry Clark. They will be the operating partners, along with Laura Long (with help from their respective spouses Jenny Wagner Clark, Christine Clark and Teddy Bystrowski). After completing some light renovations, the team expects to reopen for tastings in the fall. Right now, Rutherford 'is absolutely the most coveted area in Napa Valley,' said Compass real estate agent Mary Carpenter, who represented the buyers along with Nick Muccitelli of Vanguard. It's known for its marine sedimentary soils, often called 'Rutherford dust,' that can result in powerful red wines. 'A property like this doesn't happen that often in Rutherford,' Muccitelli said. In a period of more expansive growth for the wine industry, it might have been snatched up by a moneyed corporation rather than independent families. 'This just shows that even in a state of flux, the winery and vineyard real estate market is full of opportunity,' Muccitelli said. The Clark brothers had been 'having conversations on and off with Bill (Harrison) for eight years,' said Perry Clark, who is also Amizetta's president. He and his brother, who goes by Eddy, had been looking for a 'valley floor project' and hoped to find something in Rutherford, which Amizetta overlooks from its 1,000-foot-perch at the base of Howell Mountain. After visiting Harrison for a tasting eight years ago, Perry Clark told him, 'If you're ever thinking of selling this place, we'd love to talk.' Harrison said he wasn't interested, but that changed in the last couple of years. More Reading California wine giant closing facility, laying off dozens Why I traveled hundreds of miles to this disappearing California wine region Harrison's family history with wine dates to 16th century Italy. After immigrating to North America, his ancestors established a vineyard in Mexico and later in the Central Valley. In the early '80s, Harrison started one of California's first mobile bottling lines, which allowed wineries that didn't have extensive infrastructure to bottle efficiently. He bought his Rutherford property in 1986 and built a winery whose façade resembles an old Western saloon. Initially the facility produced wines for Harrison's uncle's Perelli-Minetti Winery, and he made the first vintage of William Harrison wines in 1993. Though the brand has never become one of Napa Valley's best-known names, it has earned a reputation for being well made and age-worthy, thanks in part to longtime consulting winemaker Philip Corallo-Titus, also of Chappellet Winery. 'There's not a whole lot of the old Napa Valley left, and that's what Bill is,' Perry Clark said. By the time Harrison was ready to sell, Perry and Eddy Clark needed some extra capital. So they enlisted their longtime friend Long, whose father founded David Arthur Vineyards in 1980 (he made his first vintage at Amizetta's winery). Although they are the primary investors, the rest of the Clark family are also shareholders in the new venture. They plan to bring some 'modern finishes' to the winery, but will keep the bones of the facility intact, with its 35-foot ceilings and old-growth cedar trussing. The building was made from stone quarried across the street on the Silverado Trail, according to Perry Clark. For the Amizetta and David Arthur sites, both nestled high in the hills, 'the remoteness is the pro, but there's also limitations on access and how much you can produce,' Perry Clark said. 'We wanted the opportunity to have something that's down in the valley, that's more accessible and visible.'

India's New Deals Leave US to Catch Up
India's New Deals Leave US to Catch Up

Newsweek

time13 hours ago

  • Newsweek

India's New Deals Leave US to Catch Up

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. On a sweltering afternoon beside the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood beside Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu for the island nation's 60th birthday. It was not only ceremonial, however. Three agreements and four memorandums of understanding were signed with a country that had once been seen as inching into China's orbit. Days earlier and at a different place on the diplomatic scale, Modi had inked a new trade agreement with former colonial power Britian — calling it "a blueprint for our shared prosperity." But as the world's most populous nation forges a new global diplomatic playbook, one country appears conspicuously left out and with a trade deal still hanging in the balance: the United States. "We wish to engage with the world, including the West, on equal terms," Sanjeev Sanyal, a key member of Indian Prime Minister Modi's Economic Advisory Council told Newsweek. "We understand that Western countries have their interests, but we also have ours. So, we will speak up for our interests. This does not mean that we won't be willing to engage or make reasonable trade-offs." India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2L) inspects a guard of honour during his ceremonial reception at the Republic Square in Male on July 25, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2L) inspects a guard of honour during his ceremonial reception at the Republic Square in Male on July 25, 2025. Photo by Mohamed Afrah / AFP A U.S. State Department spokesperson described India as "a strategic partner with whom we engage in full and frank dialogue, including on its relationship with Russia and problematic actions by China." "We deeply value our relationships with fellow Indo-Pacific nations like India and Maldives. We will continue to work with our partners to advance American interests by ensuring the region remains free and open, and continues to become more connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient," the spokesperson said. White House In a sign of India's importance for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, he was an early visitor to the White House in the second Trump term. But the optics of India's recent diplomatic activity are hard to ignore. India's diplomatic calendar this month reads like a G20 cheat sheet: France, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Russia — now Britain and the Maldives. And in a move that would have been unthinkable even a year ago, India just resumed offering tourist visas for Chinese citizens, ending a five-year freeze following deadly clashes in a disputed border area in 2020. "China and India should adhere to the direction of good neighborliness and friendship," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a July 15 meeting with Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar. "China is willing to work with India to promote sustained, healthy, and steady development," he added. These moves reflect India's deepening role as a global swing power, geopolitical analysts said. "Power—not justice, not fairness, not laws, rules, or ethics—but raw, unadulterated, crude and unhinged power has become the key determinant of international relations," Gautam Chikermane, Vice President at Observer Research Foundation told Newsweek. "Threats have become the new vocabulary, whims are the new rules. Every country must have Plan B and Plan C in place. India already does." India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer on July 24, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer on July 24, 2025. Photo by KIN CHEUNG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Landmark Deal with Britain India's landmark deal with the UK is seen as much about geopolitics as about goods and services. It wasn't rushed. Negotiations began in May 2022, took three years, and involved tough domestic balancing acts—protecting farmers, small businesses, and service sectors on both sides. "It is not easy to sign a trade agreement like this," said one senior Indian trade official involved in the deal. "But both sides were patient. We weren't desperate, and we didn't take ultimatums." "This agreement is more than just trade," UK opposition Conservative MP Bob Blackman told Newsweek. "It reflects a shift in how both nations perceive power and partnership. No longer limited to Commonwealth nostalgia, the UK–India relationship is maturing—grounded in democratic resilience and pragmatic alignment." In contrast, there is still no trade deal with the United States despite some optimism voiced by President Trump and India. "The United States is very close to a trade deal with India... I think we'll get it done soon," Trump said at a recent press briefing. Yet, almost in the same breath, he reiterated his frustration with India's trade stance, immigration policies, and neutrality on Russia. "The era of building factories in China and hiring workers in India is over," Trump added—comments that have left New Delhi watching with a wary eye. Trump has also threatened secondary tariffs of up to 100% on countries importing Russian oil—a clear warning to India, which continues buying discounted energy from Moscow in what it sees as a vital economic hedge, not a geopolitical endorsement. "India's successful trade deal with the UK demonstrates that it has global trading options and that it is not desperate enough for a trade deal with the United States to open up its agricultural sector," Lisa Curtis, director at the Center for a New American Security told Newsweek. "The Trump administration would be wise to make concessions for India in the interest of the larger strategic partnership." "One of the greatest foreign policy accomplishments of the first Trump administration was elevating the U.S.–India strategic partnership," Curtis continued. "It would be a mistake for the second Trump administration to sacrifice those gains."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store