A new mining law in Mali that raises taxes and seeks to hand over big stakes in assets to the state and local investors will need to be loosened up if gold companies are to invest in new projects there,

Barrick Gold Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said the company is “making progress” in its dispute with Mali’s military regime, but the advances haven’t come as fast as expected.

A landslide has engulfed a group of mainly women gold miners in Mali, killing several of them. In a statement broadcast on Mali’s national television, Koulikoro’s governor, Col.

Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow said the company is "making progress" in its dispute with Mali's government, but the advances have not come as fast as expected.

Mamou Toure and Samba Toure, key members of the government's negotiating team, both used to work in Mali for Randgold, a mining company that is now part of Barrick.

Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow said the company is “making progress” in its dispute with Mali’s military regime, but the advances haven’t come as fast as expected. The Canadian company last month suspended operations at the vast Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali after the government started removing gold from the nation’s biggest mine in the latest escalation of a months-long dispute.