Canada's Barrick Mining has signed a new collective bargaining agreement with unions representing workers at its Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine in western Mali, the company and a union official said on Sunday, September 27, 2026, easing the threat of industrial action at one of Africa's largest gold complexes.

“We confirm that we have signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the LG unions,” a Barrick spokesperson said.

Bani Sacko, a union official at the Loulo-Gounkoto complex, confirmed the strike had been called off. “On Monday the 21st, after a meeting, an agreement was reached and the strike action has since been called off. Apparently, all the other strike actions have also been called off,” Sacko told Reuters.

The Loulo-Gounkoto unions had submitted a list of 15 demands, Sacko said. Abdoulaye Coulibaly of Mali’s National Union of Malian Workers said the agreement involved workers at Food & Events Africa, Somilo and Gounkoto. “The strike threat has been resolved,” Coulibaly said.

Earlier in September, unions representing workers at Somilo and Gounkoto said they would begin strike action at the end of September unless demands on overtime pay, reimbursement of mission expenses and implementation of labour agreements were met. Separate strike notices were also submitted by Barrick’s catering and support staff contractor Food & Events Africa, as well as workers in Mali’s mining regulator and other mining administration agencies.

The agreement follows a prolonged dispute between Barrick and the Malian government over profit-sharing and control of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex, which was resolved in November 2025 after two years of negotiations. Toronto-based Barrick temporarily suspended operations in January 2025 after Mali’s military-led authorities arrested the miner’s employees and issued an arrest warrant for the company’s former CEO Mark Bristow for alleged financial crimes.

Mali, one of Africa’s leading gold producers, has tightened its grip on the mining sector under a 2023 mining code aimed at boosting state revenues from the country’s natural resources. The resolution of the strike threat removes, at least temporarily, a source of operational disruption at a mine that remains central to Barrick’s African portfolio and to Mali’s gold output.