Gold Thirst

Since the Wagner group set up a foot in Mali in late 2021, it has tried to get into gold mining replicating the operational model they pioneered in CAR without success. In June 2023, the US Treasury sanctioned Andrei Ivanov, a Wagner military official, as a facilitator discussing mining concerns with the junta. Enrolled since 2015 after some time at the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ivanov, call sign « Kep », is a veteran of Wagner operations with roles in Syria and CAR before coming to Mali. There is at this stage no indication he would have left Mali and may be a character to watch.

The Northern Mali offensive supported by the Wagner group has shifted the situation. Since Saturday 10th of February, Wagner group and the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) have taken control of Intahaka mine, the biggest gold panning location outside of the government’s control in Northern Mali, 80km West of Gao.

The landscape looks like the moon with multiple holes in the ground. Working conditions are very difficult and multiple nationalities cross each other to work on illicit gold mining. According to a UN report, the mine accomodated up to 4,000 people in 2020. Mining activity has attracted foreigners, including from theSudan, Nigeria, Chad, Algeria and even Pakistan, and unidentified armed elements,creating serious security concerns, particularly in the town of Gao.

Multiples sources have reported Wagner presence in the area to journalists and research groups like ours while photos which are difficult to date or geolocate have emerged on social media showing Russian combatants patrolling an artisanal mining site.

Security of the site has been guaranteed by various armed groups against a tax which has enabled workers to mine. After the capture of Kidal in November, management of the mine fell to GATIA, Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies, the loyalist Tuareg armed group. General Elhadj Gamou, founding figure of GATIA and governor of Kidal, did not oppose this change of supervision.

Production figures are difficult to estimate but could be several tons per year. Most of the gold ends up in Dubai to fuel the international gold markets.

To know more, watch this superb documentary on France24 by Caroline Dumay with Stefan Carstens, Graham Walsh and Damien Koffi, and Walid Ag Menani and Anne-Fleur Lespiaut