The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Barrick is taking a writedown of more than a billion dollars on its Malian operations, as a dispute that shut down its biggest African mine shows few signs of resolution. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that Barrick said in a Monday release accompanying its second-quarter results that it reduced the carrying value of its 80-per-cent share in the Loulo-Gounkoto complex by $1.03-billion (U.S.). In June, a Mali court gave the West African country permission to seize operational control of the site. In the months before, relations between the gold miner and Mali had been steadily deteriorating. Mali, which has been ruled by a military government since a 2021 coup, demanded a much bigger share of the profits from Loulo-Gounkoto in 2024, after the introduction of a new mining code. As Barrick pushed back, Mali piled on the pressure, jailing four of the company's executives, blocking exports and seizing bullion from the site. Barrick late last year sought international arbitration and in January shut down the mine. When it was in operation, Loulo-Gounkoto accounted for about 15 per cent of the company's production. Barrick's Mark Bristow remains hopeful for a resolution.