The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Barrick is set to lose control of its Malian operations after a local court ordered a state-appointed administrator to temporarily take over the Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that the Bamako Commercial Tribunal's ruling Monday follows months of tension between Barrick and Mali over a new fiscal agreement for the massive gold mine in the West African country. The court named Soumana Makadji, a former health minister in Mali, as the administrator of the mine for the next six months. The Mali government brought the case against Barrick in an apparent effort to put further pressure on the company in their negotiations, which have gone on for more than a year. Mali jailed four Barrick executives in November and issued an arrest warrant for chief executive officer Mark Bristow in December, accusing him of money laundering. When Loulo-Gounkoto was in operation, it accounted for about 15 per cent of Barrick's production. Barrick inherited its Malian operations after it bought Randgold Resources Ltd. in 2019. "We view this scenario as the worst-case outcome for Barrick," said Josh Wolfson, analyst with RBC Dominion Securities said in a note.