Mali sanctions lifted and gold mines should be operating normally
The ECOWAS states have lifted their sanctions on Mali which had been cutting off supplies to the country and it looks as though its gold mining industry will have been little affected.
Author: Lawrence Williams
Posted: Monday , 09 Apr 2012
LONDON (MINEWEB) -
A political settlement appears to have been brokered in Mali following the recent coup with an agreement by the military junta to reinstate the country's Constitution. The president of the national assembly is to act as head of state and oversee the appointment of an interim Prime Minister to oversee the return to a democratic system. The former President, Amadou Toumani Toure, who had been due to step down this month anyway, has formally resigned as head of state and as a consequence the country's neighbours have lifted the sanctions which they had imposed following the coup. These had disrupted the flow of supplies into the landlocked country, notably of oil, which would have had the potential of bringing the mines to a halt.
The Mali coup was an unusual one in that it primarily was caused by unrest in the Army which felt it was not being given sufficient support and supplied to counter a Touareg rebel insurgency in the north of the country, rather than one of overall political opposition. To an extent it has thus perhaps been easier to re-implement an initial consensus hopefully leading to a rapid return to democratic rule.
Mali is Africa's third largest producer of gold. The biggest gold miner in the country, Randgold Resources, with its Loulo, Gounkoto and Morila operations, has been quick to let its shareholders know the changes in the situation. The company's CEO, Mark Bristow, said today that the announced resolution of the political crisis had strengthened the company's confidence in the political maturity of the West African region and its ability to settle conflict situations without external involvement.
He went on to say "During this period these operations continued to operate without any material disruption and the fact that they still have sufficient supplies of fuel and other consumables on hand is a tribute to our partnership and in-country management philosophy. Our production guidance for 2012 remains unchanged, although we have not completed our assessment of the impact this situation has had on costs. We will monitor the implementation of the political settlement by the relevant parties, and give the market a full update when we report our first quarter results on 3 May," he said.
While the degrees of disruption of operations amongst the other gold miners may indeed be a little more mixed, it does look as any interruptions to production there may have been will have been brief.
The ECOWAS states have lifted their sanctions on Mali which had been cutting off supplies to the country and it looks as though its gold mining industry will have been little affected.
Author: Lawrence Williams
Posted: Monday , 09 Apr 2012
LONDON (MINEWEB) -
A political settlement appears to have been brokered in Mali following the recent coup with an agreement by the military junta to reinstate the country's Constitution. The president of the national assembly is to act as head of state and oversee the appointment of an interim Prime Minister to oversee the return to a democratic system. The former President, Amadou Toumani Toure, who had been due to step down this month anyway, has formally resigned as head of state and as a consequence the country's neighbours have lifted the sanctions which they had imposed following the coup. These had disrupted the flow of supplies into the landlocked country, notably of oil, which would have had the potential of bringing the mines to a halt.
The Mali coup was an unusual one in that it primarily was caused by unrest in the Army which felt it was not being given sufficient support and supplied to counter a Touareg rebel insurgency in the north of the country, rather than one of overall political opposition. To an extent it has thus perhaps been easier to re-implement an initial consensus hopefully leading to a rapid return to democratic rule.
Mali is Africa's third largest producer of gold. The biggest gold miner in the country, Randgold Resources, with its Loulo, Gounkoto and Morila operations, has been quick to let its shareholders know the changes in the situation. The company's CEO, Mark Bristow, said today that the announced resolution of the political crisis had strengthened the company's confidence in the political maturity of the West African region and its ability to settle conflict situations without external involvement.
He went on to say "During this period these operations continued to operate without any material disruption and the fact that they still have sufficient supplies of fuel and other consumables on hand is a tribute to our partnership and in-country management philosophy. Our production guidance for 2012 remains unchanged, although we have not completed our assessment of the impact this situation has had on costs. We will monitor the implementation of the political settlement by the relevant parties, and give the market a full update when we report our first quarter results on 3 May," he said.
While the degrees of disruption of operations amongst the other gold miners may indeed be a little more mixed, it does look as any interruptions to production there may have been will have been brief.
