Gounkoto Mining Services (GMS), a major French-backed contractor, has initiated a complete withdrawal from Mali’s largest gold mining operation, placing more than 600 jobs at immediate risk.
The exit follows a decision by the Canadian giant Barrick Gold not to renew GMS’s contract for 2026, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing friction between multinational mining firms and the Malian government over tax disputes and operational sovereignty.
GMS, which is linked to France’s Bouygues Construction via DTP Mining, has already issued termination notices to its workforce at the Gounkoto and Yalea North sites, signaling a deepening crisis within the country’s most profitable extractive asset.
The Loulo-Gounkoto complex, which generated nearly $900 million in revenue in 2024, has struggled to regain its historical production levels since transitioning back from provisional state administration in late 2025.
This operational slowdown contributed to a stark 23% decline in Mali’s total gold output for 2025. While Barrick has projected a modest increase in production for the second quarter of 2026, the absence of GMS—a key technical partner in open-pit extraction—raises urgent questions about the mine’s long-term efficiency.
Despite the gravity of the layoffs, the Malian Ministry of Mines has dismissed the contractor’s departure as an “internal problem,” even as regional analysts warn of the broader implications for Mali’s investment climate.
This withdrawal underscores the precarious nature of Africa’s mining sector as “resource nationalism” clashes with traditional foreign-backed service models.
As Barrick recalibrates its 2026 operational planning to exclude Gounkoto from certain strategic forecasts, the local economy faces the dual challenge of declining production and rising unemployment.
The shift reflects a wider continental trend where geopolitical tensions are forcing a re-evaluation of long-standing partnerships, often leaving local workers caught in the crossfire of high-stakes corporate and state negotiations.
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