Extractive revenues collected by Mali's state budget reached 978.29 billion CFA francs (about $1.728 billion) in 2024, accounting for 40.93% of public revenues for the year. With gold prices having remained on an upward trend for more than a year, how much further can gold's contribution to Mali's public revenues increase in 2026?
The historic level reached by extractive revenues in 2024 compares with 27.81% in 2023 and 34.8% in 2022, according to a report by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) published in March 2026. In 2024, exports from the sector accounted for 78.8% of Mali's total exports, with gold remaining the country's leading export product.
The arrival of two lithium mines has not yet fundamentally altered this dependence. Goulamina, operated by China's Ganfeng Lithium, began production in December 2024, followed by Bougouni, operated by Britain's Kodal Minerals, which achieved first production in February 2025. These two assets position Mali among Africa's leading lithium producers, but their contribution to budget revenues remains marginal compared with the scale of the gold sector.
The impact of an aggressive mining reform
The 2024 record was driven first by a deliberate strategy to increase the share of mining value accruing to the state. The Mining Code adopted in 2023 raised public participation in mining projects from 20% to 35%, including 5% reserved for local investors. Following an audit of the sector, the government launched a process to renegotiate contracts with several operators. The EITI report recorded 331.64 billion CFA francs collected from these renegotiations, a figure below the 500 billion CFA francs cited by Economy and Finance Minister Alousséni Sanou, but one that illustrates the scale of the government's efforts to recover additional mining revenues.
Gold prices, which were already favorable in 2024, amplified these gains. Gold reached 53 record highs in 2025, ending the year at an average annual price of $3,431 per ounce, up 44% from a year earlier, according to the World Gold Council. Final EITI data for 2025 are not yet available, but information reported this week indicated that gold producers operating in Mali paid 888.5 billion CFA francs.
While gold prices rose by about 70% in 2025, lower production limited revenue growth, which nevertheless increased by 6.4% year-on-year. The prolonged dispute between the Malian state and Barrick Mining over the implementation of the new Mining Code led to the suspension of operations at Loulo-Gounkoto, previously the country's largest gold complex. Mali's industrial gold production fell 22.9% during the year to 42.2 metric tons, compared with 54.8 tons in 2024. A compromise was eventually reached between the state and Barrick, allowing gold production at Loulo-Gounkoto to resume in late 2025.
2026: A recovery that remains uncertain
Mali entered 2026 against this backdrop, with more favorable signals emerging both in production and in the market. In the first quarter of 2026, Barrick's mine produced 80,000 ounces, against an annual target of more than 360,000 ounces. According to the World Bank, gold prices also rose 17% in the first quarter of 2026 from the previous quarter, surpassing $5,000 per ounce in February. For the full year, the Bretton Woods institution projects an average annual increase of 37%.
Taken together, these trends provide Mali with a genuine opportunity to significantly increase public revenues derived from gold. The International Monetary Fund forecasts economic growth of 5.5% for Mali in 2026, driven in part by the recovery in gold production. Whether this scenario materializes will depend on the performance of operations at Loulo-Gounkoto and other mines across the country, while the terrorist threat remains a persistent risk for Mali's mining industry.
