The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Barrick Gold says it will be forced to suspend its mining operations in Mali if the country's military regime continues to block gold shipments from one of the company's biggest overseas mines. The Globe's Geoffrey York and Niall McGee write that the suspension of shipments from Barrick's Loulo-Gounkoto complex is the latest twist in a worsening conflict between the Toronto gold miner and the junta that seized power in the West African country in a 2021 coup. "Local operating conditions have deteriorated significantly with employees imprisoned without cause and gold shipments blocked," Barrick said in a statement Monday. "If shipments remain suspended, Barrick will be compelled to suspend operations." Several of Barrick's senior managers in Mali have been imprisoned since Nov. 25, and legal authorities reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Barrick's chief executive officer, Mark Bristow, on Dec. 5. Other foreign companies have been targeted. "This is just a pressure tactic," said Rick Rule, owner of Rule Investment Media. "They're trying to adjudicate in the court of public opinion in Bamako, where they are at once the plaintiff, the judge and the jury."