Author: TSX Stocks

Canadian miner Barrick Gold has signed a new agreement with the Malian government to end an almost two-year-old dispute over its mining assets in the West African country, four people familiar with the developments told Reuters on Wednesday.

Barrick has signed the agreement and it is now up to Mali’s government to formally approve the deal, the sources told Reuters. An official announcement could come as early as Thursday. Another source said that though a deal was close, last-minute hurdles could still derail it.

The Toronto-based miner and Mali have been locked in a dispute since 2023 over the implementation of the West African country’s new mining code that gives Mali’s government a greater share in the gold mine.

As part of the new agreement, Barrick will pay a total of 275-billion CFA or $438-million to the Mali government, in return for the release of detained employees, seized gold, and restarting the operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto mine.

Barrick did not immediately respond to an email query by Reuters. A spokesperson for Mali’s mines ministry declined to comment.

The company’s shares were up 3.37% on the Toronto Stock Exchange at 2:38 p.m.

A delegation of more than 15 representatives of Malian ministries as well as the private consulting firm Iventus Mining completed a three-day inspection of Barrick’s mining complex on Wednesday, according to five sources.

Mali late last week gave Barrick a one-week deadline to restart operations, four of the sources said.

A new agreement with Mali would give a bump to Barrick’s operations at a time when the gold prices have been hitting an all-time high but investors have not seen a similar return reflected on the company’s share performance.

In an interview with Reuters earlier this month Mark Bristow, CEO Barrick said that both the company and Mali were losing on the closure of the mine, with Mali losing out on its share of the revenue with every week the mine remained shut.

He said that Barrick paid $460-million to the Mali government last year and would have contributed about $550-million to the nation’s treasury this year if operations had not been suspended.

Barrick lowered its gold output forecast this year to between 3.2-million ounces and 3.5-million ounces due to the temporary halt at the Mali mine. Barrick’s gold output was 3.9-million ounces last year and 4.1-million ounces in 2023.

Military governments in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are using legal disputes, arrests, and nationalisations, as well as threats to deepen their ties with Russia, to assert greater control over their gold and uranium wealth.

After seizing power in 2020, Mali’s junta pledged to scrutinise its mining sector so the state would benefit more from gold prices running at all-time highs.

Some Western miners, like Canada’s B2Gold, reached an agreement swiftly. Others, like Australia’s Resolute, whose CEO was detained while in Mali for talks, took longer.

Barrick has also launched arbitration against Mali, and it is unclear whether, in light of the new agreement, the company will drop its case.

For 2024, Mali contributed $1.07-billion in revenues for Barrick, a 1% increase from the previous year.

Mali’s industrial gold production plunged 23% year-over-year in 2024.

Numinus Wellness (TSX: NUMI) (OTCQX: NUMIF) informed investors after the markets closed on Friday that it plans to wind down certain non-operating subsidiaries as part of an effort to simplify the company’s corporate structure and concentrate resources on its core business areas.

The company also recently announced that Michael Tan had been appointed CEO of the company, with Payton Nyquvest transitioning to the role of executive chair. At the time, Tan said he would prioritize strengthening Numinus’ clinical research and practitioner training programs while aligning the company’s focus to better address emerging opportunities in mental health care.

Not long after the change in the C-suite, the company acknowledged it was delayed in publishing its financial statements and noted that the British Columbia Securities Commission issued a “failure to file” cease trade order (FFCTO). The Toronto Stock Exchange suspended trading in the company’s securities due to the order, and the company said an audit was underway.

The subsidiaries affected and their respective wind-down methods are as follows:

• Mindspace Services Inc. (Canada) – Bankruptcy
• Neurology Centre of Toronto Inc. (Ontario) – Bankruptcy
• Numinus Bioscience Inc. (British Columbia) – Bankruptcy
• Salvation Bioscience Inc. (Canada) – Bankruptcy
• Numinus Health Corp. (British Columbia) – Bankruptcy

Numinus said in a statement that these actions do not affect the overall company’s ability to continue operations, which remain focused on its research and training businesses around mental health solutions and psychedelic-assisted therapies.

“By streamlining its corporate structure, Numinus is ensuring a more sustainable and efficient path forward,” the statement read.

“This initiative allows us to allocate resources more effectively and maintain focus on our core operations,” Tan said.

In December, Numinus sold its clinics to Stella for $3.53 million. Stella plans on partnering with Numinus to share operational data from its network of 12 mental health clinics. Numinus is developing an AI-based SaaS solution leveraging its deep patient care expertise.