Ghanaian businessman Sir Samuel E. Jonah, former Chairman of AngloGold Ashanti, has stepped down as Chairman of Roscan Gold. Jonah, who joined the Toronto-based junior company headed by Nana Sangmuah in January 2020, has announced that he is stepping down for “personal reasons”. Could the departure of this mining behemoth be linked to the uncertain business climate in Mali, between security challenges and political instability?
Since the coup d'état of August 2020 and May 2021, the Sahelian country has been ruled by a transitional government led by Colonel Assimi Goita. In August 2023, Mali's interim government adopted a new mining code and, as part of its review of the sector, suspended the issue and renewal of exploration permits and licenses. While Roscan Gold is exploring the Kandiolé gold project in southwest Mali, comprising 9 permits, the junior is still waiting for the moratorium to be lifted in order to complete the process of obtaining some of these permits.
Located in a prolific gold zone close to B2Gold's Fekola mine, Roscan Gold's project has yet to reveal its secrets. The exploration work carried out by Pascal van Osta and Christian Bantsimba has not yet been the subject of a pre-feasibility study that would enable us to estimate the exact resources, let alone the reserves.