Mali gold mine ‘to resume shipments soon’
Charlotte Mathews -- Business Day South Africa
Resources Editor
THE Morila Gold Mine in Mali, which is owned by AngloGold Ashanti, Randgold Resources and the Mali government, expected to resume shipments of gold shortly, said AngloGold Ashanti yesterday.
Corporate affairs spokesman Steve Lenahan was responding to a Reuters report quoting Abdou Diarra, head of the mines division at the Mali mines ministry’s National Office for Geology and Mines, that the mine had suspended gold shipments since late last month as a result of a tax dispute.
An industry source said Morila had wanted to offset part of its tax bill by cancelling debts owed to it by the government of Mali. However, tax authorities had rejected the proposal.
Lenahan said Morila and the Mali government had been in discussions since last October about a wide range of taxes.
There were differences of opinion over the interpretation of regulations and talks were in progress on a protocol to avoid future differences of interpretation.
The discussions were expected to be concluded shortly.
Lenahan confirmed that the last shipment of gold from Morila was on December 29 and there was no shipment last week, pending discussions with the government.
But Morila was confident negotiations with the government would yield results and that shipments would resume.
The temporary suspension of shipments was not expected to have any financial effect on the mine.
Morila is the biggest mine in Mali.
It is owned 40% each by AngloGold Ashanti and Randgold Resources, with the Mali government holding the remaining 20%.
AngloGold Ashanti manages the mine, which produced 510000oz of gold in 2004 at a total production cost of $263/oz.
