Resolute Mining Ltd shares were suspended from trading in Sydney on Thursday, with its chief executive officer still detained in Mali over a tax dispute with the government.

Resolute Mining’s stock fell 20% to 18.35 pence on Thursday in London, and has lost 46% over the last five days.

Perth-based Resolute announced that the Australian Stock Exchange has commenced a temporary trading halt of its shares, ‘following various articles published relating to the status of negotiations with the government in Mali’.

Those negotiations relate to a tax dispute which escalated last Friday when, as the Africa-focused mining firm announced two days later, CEO Terence Holohan and two of his colleagues were ‘unexpectedly detained’.

The three executives were in the Malian capital Bamako for discussions with mining and taxation authorities, after which they were arrested and taken to the military junta’s specialised unit for corruption and financial crimes.

The government claims that Resolute, which owns the Syama gold mine in southwest Mali, owes the state XOF100 billion - approximately $162 million - to settle the dispute over allegedly unpaid taxes.

Resolute holds 80% of a subsidiary that owns the Syama mine, with Mali holding the other 20%.

Holohan and his colleagues are being questioned over suspicions of false evidence and misappropriation of public goods, an anonymous source told AFP after the arrests.

The junta, which seized power in 2021, has ramped up pressure on foreign mining companies in an effort to gain more control over gold revenues.

Canadian miner Barrick Gold Corp paid the state XOF50 billion in October, reaching an agreement after four employees were detained in September for several days.

Resolute said on Sunday that it has provided ‘detailed responses’ to Mali’s accusations, and that the detained executives are receiving support from the British and other nations’ embassies and consulates.

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