Earlier this month, Australian gold miner CEO Terence Holohan and two others were arrested in Mali’s capital Bamako on November 8 while visiting the country to discuss an unspecified dispute.
The government did not say why they were detained.
Andrew Wray, the company’s non-executive chairman, said in a statement posted on Resolute Mining’s website that all claims against the company by the Malian authorities, “including those relating to taxes, duties, maintenance and management of offshore accounts” had been settled.
The company will pay Mali $80 million from “existing cash reserves,” with an additional payment of $80 million in the “coming months,” he added.
Who wants to be a millionaire key call winner
Resolute said the company’s CEO and two employees were “safe and well” and that it was working with Malian authorities to secure their release.
The Australian company has been working for years at the Syama gold mine in Mali, a large operation in the southwest of the country.
It holds an 80 percent stake in the mine, while the Malian government holds the remaining 20 percent.
The arrest is the latest controversy in Mali’s key foreign-dominated mining sector, which is increasingly being watched by military authorities.
Four employees of the Canadian company Barrick Gold were also detained for days in September.
Mali is one of Africa’s leading gold producers, but has struggled for years with jihadist violence and high levels of poverty and hunger.
The military took power in 2020 and since then the junta has put foreign mining companies under increasing pressure as it seeks to increase government revenue.