Mali's Council of Ministers, meeting at the Koulouba Palace on 30 September under the presidency of General Assimi Goïta, approved renewal decrees for ten gold exploration permits — nine first-time renewals and one second renewal — marking the third such wave in six weeks as Bamako works through a backlog left by a mining-sector freeze.
The government's official communiqué names the companies involved: Company Mines and Career (COMICAR SARL), Hongda Liujiu Mali SARL, Ressources Robex Mali SARL, Dansoko Gold Mine SARLU, M.B.C. Diffusion, Wagadou Explore SARL and Yong Xin Mines SARL received first renewals, covering permits originally attributed between 2018 and 2022 in the circles of Kéniéba, Kayes, Kangaba, Sikasso, Yanfolila and Bougouni. Africa Mining SARL received a second renewal for its Dandoko permit in the Kéniéba circle, a title first granted in 2017 and renewed once already in 2020.
According to the Council of Ministers' communiqué, the affected permits were caught up in a renewal suspension that ran from December 2022 to March 2025. The government states that exploration work on these sites turned up geological anomalies justifying further research, and the companies formally requested renewal under Mali's mining code. The renewed permits run for three additional years, renewable once more.
This is the third wave of such approvals since 21 August, when the Council first approved ten permits — eight gold titles (held by Lili, L'Horizon, Faya Mining, Cora Resources and Tropical Gold) and two lithium titles (held by Intermin). A further four gold permits were renewed on 2 September. Including Wednesday's batch, 22 gold permits have now been renewed since 21 August, according to La Nouvelle Tribune's count — though coverage of the individual waves has varied in how companies and permit counts are attributed across reports.
Neither the government communiqué nor the outlets covering the 30 September session specify how many permits remain frozen from the original suspension, or whether Bamako has set a timeline for resolving the rest of the backlog. The suspension followed a broader 2023 overhaul of Mali's mining code that increased state participation and tax requirements for operators, and came after the government separately cancelled more than 90 exploration permits in October 2025 for alleged non-compliance with the new rules.