{"id":17518,"date":"2026-09-09T17:11:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/?p=17518"},"modified":"2026-09-09T17:11:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:11:33","slug":"barrick-and-mali-implement-settlement-ending-icsid-dispute-over-loulo-gounkoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/2026\/09\/09\/barrick-and-mali-implement-settlement-ending-icsid-dispute-over-loulo-gounkoto\/","title":{"rendered":"Barrick and Mali Implement Settlement Ending ICSID Dispute Over Loulo-Gounkoto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Implementation of the settlement <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barrick.com\/English\/news\/news-details\/2025\/barrick-announces-resolution-of-its-disputes-with-mali\/default.aspx\">announced<\/a> by Barrick Mining Corporation and the Government of Mali on November 24, 2025 continued through early 2026, drawing a close to one of Africa&#8217;s most consequential resource governance confrontations. Operational control of the Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex was returned to Barrick in December 2025, detained employees were released, and approximately three tonnes of seized gold were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afronomicslaw.org\/category\/analysis\/barrick-mining-corporation-v-republic-mali-loulo-gounkoto-mining-complex-icsid\">restituted<\/a>. In exchange, Barrick agreed to pay approximately USD 430 million (around CFA 244 billion), accepted the application of Mali&#8217;s 2023 Mining Code, and withdrew its pending <span class='tooltipsall tooltipsincontent classtoolTips18'>ICSID<\/span> claims, while Mali <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecofinagency.com\/news\/1912-51565-barrick-reclaims-mali-gold-mine-with-regulatory-terms-still-unclear\">renewed<\/a> the Loulo permit for ten years, ahead of its February 2026 expiry. The outcome shows arbitration operating as negotiating leverage, not as a terminus: the state secured code compliance and revenue, while the investor recovered its asset without an award. It will be studied closely by other Sahel governments and miners contending with the region&#8217;s assertive new mining codes.<\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips18','International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips63','Bilateral investment treaty'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips72','Investment Court System'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips76','multilateral investment court'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips106','asociaci\u00f3n p\u00fablica-privada'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips110','inversi\u00f3n extranjera directa'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips114','Sistema de Tribunales de Inversiones'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips116','European Commission'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips118','Union europ\u00e9enne'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips119','Uni\u00f3n Europea'); <\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Implementation of the settlement announced by Barrick Mining Corporation and the Government of Mali on November 24, 2025 continued through early 2026, drawing a close to one of Africa&#8217;s most consequential resource governance confrontations.<script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips118','Union europ\u00e9enne'); <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> toolTips('.classtoolTips119','Uni\u00f3n Europea'); <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":17519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[397],"tags":[1900],"class_list":["post-17518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-current-issue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17522,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17518\/revisions\/17522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/itn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}