Kibali’s $500m will be cleared to leave Congo ‘very soon’ – Barrick CEO

Barrick Gold’s Kibali Gold Mining joint venture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will shortly be able to pull $ 500 million out of the country, CEO Mark Bristow announced on Monday.

The gold mine worker has been in talks with the Congo government for months on how to get the money out of the country. A resolution was closed in January, but then hit the Covid 19 pandemic, Bristow said in a phone interview.

Bristow said he expected the money to be released “very soon” for the exit and, after intensive talks with the central bank, the minister and the prime minister, declined to set a schedule.

According to the Congo Mining Act for 2018, miners must return 60% of mineral sales to the Congo to help develop the Congolese economy

The $ 500 million is the surplus left over after Kibali returned 60% of the revenue and paid for all of the expenses in the country, Bristow said.

Barrick needs the $ 500 million to repay loans and dividends, Bristow said. AngloGold Ashanti, who owns 45% of Kibali, is entitled to half the money after dividends have been paid, he said.

AngloGold Ashanti declined to comment and referred Reuters back to Barrick.

In May Bristow said that spending the $ 500 million “keeps us awake at night”.

Barrick’s efforts to get the money out come from the fact that the pandemic is putting a significant strain on the Congo economy. Foreign exchange reserves are shrinking and mining companies are taking longer to repay the 60% of mineral sales.

“Unfortunately, we have found that the 60% repatriation is currently unpredictable,” Mine Minister Willy Kitobo Samsoni told Reuters, adding that he warned mining companies to immediately repatriate this capital or risk sanctions, as set out in the Mining Act.

The late repatriation of funds is one of the burdens of the mining sector, which is making a crucial contribution to the Congo’s economy, Samsoni said on Saturday..