The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that Mali's military junta started executing an interim order to seize gold at a mine run by Barrick, escalating a dispute over the West African government's share of revenue from the project. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says that authorities started executing the order on Saturday against gold stockpiled at the Loulo-Gounkoto operations, according to a Barrick memo. The order was issued a week ago, according to the Toronto-based miner. The world's No. 2 gold producer is locked in a dispute with the Malian government that centres on the distribution of revenue from the vast Loulo-Gounkoto complex. Shipments from the mine have been blocked since November. Barrick said in a statement on Jan. 6 that it would have to suspend work at the mine if Mali did not stop disrupting exports and operations. Barrick closed Monday at $22.26, down 44 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange.