Syama Gold Mine Mali: Output, Owner, 7 Sustainable Methods

The Syama gold mine is a large underground and open-pit operation in southern Mali, about 300 km southeast of Bamako and 30 km from the Côte d’Ivoire border. Resolute Mining owns 80% and the Government of Mali holds 20%. It poured 176,341 oz of gold in 2025 and is guided to 150,000-160,000 oz in 2026 at an all-in sustaining cost of US$2,300-2,400/oz.

This page sets out what a consultant or investor needs on one screen: who owns the mine, how the ore is treated, what the latest quarter showed, how much gold remains in reserve, and the seven environmental and social practices the operator reports. Every number comes from a dated company filing or a named third party. Where a figure is the company’s own, the text says so.

Syama gold mine at a glance

AISC means all-in sustaining cost: the operating, royalty and sustaining capital cost of producing one ounce. The g/t figure is grams of gold per tonne of rock. Moz means million troy ounces, and koz means thousand troy ounces.

Who owns the Syama mine in Mali

Resolute Mining Limited is listed in Australia and London under the code RSG, and its chief executive is Chris Eger. It bought Syama from Randgold Resources in 2004 for a reported US$6 million. The company now describes two producing mines, Syama and Mako in Senegal, with the Doropo project under construction in Côte d’Ivoire. The US Geological Survey’s Mali country chapter (2019) showed the same 80/20 split and location.

The state’s share matters for valuation. All reserve and resource totals below are given on a 100% basis unless stated, so an investor’s attributable figure is lower. The company’s own statement gives 7.38 Moz of the Mali resource as Resolute’s share.

The tax dispute and the Mining Code

In November 2024, three executives including then chief executive Terry Holohan were detained after a meeting with officials in Bamako. They were released after the miner agreed to pay US$160 million, according to The Guardian. Resolute’s 2025 sustainability report describes a signed Protocol that moved its Mali assets to the 2023 Mining Code and the new local content law. It settled state claims on tax, customs levies and maintenance up to 31 December 2023, with payments of about US$160 million.

The fiscal terms still affect costs. The World Gold Council says Mali’s sliding royalty, in place since 2024, reaches 9.5% at a gold price of US$4,100/oz. For scale, gold traded near US$4,119/oz on 5 November 2026 (Trading Economics, CFD price). Resolute’s average realised price in the September 2026 quarter was US$4,325/oz. Resolute itself said lower royalties on a lower realised price helped reduce Syama’s AISC that quarter.

How the Syama mine produces gold

Syama has two ore types and two plants. Sulphide ore holds gold locked inside sulphur-bearing minerals, so ordinary leaching recovers little of it. Oxide ore is weathered near the surface, which makes it easier to treat. Our guide to oxidized gold ore explains the difference, and types of ore deposits gives wider context.

• Underground mine: a sub-level cave producing about 2.5 Mt of sulphide ore a year. In sub-level caving, miners blast ore from a series of levels and let the rock above collapse into the void as it is drawn out. It is a low-cost bulk method for large orebodies.
• Syama North (A21) pit: the other main sulphide source, and the deposit the company says underpins the mine’s long-term future.
• Sulphide circuit: three-stage crushing, grinding and flotation, then a roaster at about 720°C, followed by carbon-in-leach (CIL) recovery, electrowinning and smelting into bullion.
• Oxide circuit: about 1.6 Mt a year through a jaw crusher and SAG mill, with gravity recovery for coarse gold and then CIL.

The Syama Sulphide Conversion Project

As oxide ore runs down, the Syama Sulphide Conversion Project (SSCP) will lift sulphide capacity by 60%, from 2.4 Mt to 4.0 Mt a year. It modifies the oxide grinding circuit and upgrades the roaster, while keeping the option to switch back to oxide ore. Roaster commissioning finished in the September 2026 quarter, behind schedule because visa restrictions allowed only half of the contractor workforce to mobilise. Secondary crusher and ball mill circuits were due over the following months.

▶ How gold is mined and refined, from rock to bullion · 5:27

Syama production and costs in the latest quarters

Syama poured 31,777 oz in the September 2026 quarter at an AISC of US$2,596/oz. The company blamed slower open-pit rates at A21 during a change of mining contractor, intermittent explosives supply underground, plant downtime and the roaster upgrade. September alone produced about 15,500 oz as contractor fleet arrived and emulsion deliveries resumed.

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Nine months to September: gold poured by circuit

Thousand troy ounces, 2025 vs 2026

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Syama gold poured by quarter, 2026

Thousand troy ounces, sulphide plus oxide

Across the first nine months of 2026, the mine poured 105,460 oz, down from 129,178 oz a year earlier. Most of the drop is oxide, which fell from 29,740 oz to 12,162 oz. Sulphide slipped from 99,438 oz to 93,298 oz. AISC rose from US$2,092/oz to US$2,459/oz over the same period.

In full-year 2025, sulphide output was 135,400 oz, 18% below 2024’s 163,400 oz, on lower head grades and recoveries. Oxide added about 40,900 oz. Sulphide recovery in the September 2026 quarter was 72%, so more than a quarter of the gold fed to that circuit was not recovered. That is the number to watch as the conversion project ramps up.

Syama reserves and resources

Resolute’s statement at 31 December 2025 reports Mali Ore Reserves of 50.1 Mt at 2.4 g/t for 3,885 koz, and Mineral Resources of 108.9 Mt at 2.6 g/t for 9,101 koz. Reserves are the part judged economic to mine under a stated plan; resources are the wider mineralised inventory and include them unless a statement says otherwise. The two must not be added together. Reserves use a US$2,300/oz gold price assumption, well below prices in late 2026.

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Mali Ore Reserves by source

Thousand troy ounces, 100% basis, 31 December 2025

Cut-off grade is the lowest grade worth mining. The statement uses 1.8 g/t for the underground mine, 1.0 g/t for satellite sulphides and 2.5 g/t for Tabakoroni underground. Underground reserves fell 235 koz in 2025 through depletion and changed mining assumptions, while satellite deposits rose 83 koz after a new pit optimisation. Tabakoroni underground was not mined in 2025. These are company estimates under the JORC Code, the Australian reporting standard.

Why the figures are not all recoverable gold

Contained ounces are not poured ounces. Multiply tonnes by grade to get contained gold, then apply recovery. The calculator below lets you run that sum and test a margin with your own price and cost.

7 sustainable mining methods at Syama

The list below uses what Resolute documents for Syama, chiefly in its 2025 sustainability report. These are company-reported practices, not independent findings, and “sustainable” here means a managed impact, not no impact. Mining still disturbs land, emits sulphur dioxide and burns fuel oil, and the figures show that too.

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SO2 emitted at Syama

Tonnes a year, calculated from roaster feed

1. Sub-level caving instead of a larger surface pit

The sustainability report calls the underground sub-level cave a sustainable mining method. The practical reasoning is that ore comes from a confined underground footprint rather than a wider pit. Its limits are reported as well: blasting is harder in wet production areas, and explosive supply has interrupted output.

2. Water recycling and river limits

Syama draws from the Bagoe River, with permitted rates falling in the dry season. It also stores rainwater in the northern satellite pits, uses groundwater inflow from the underground mine, and reuses water from the tailings storage facility. In 2025, abstraction was below 47% of the annual allocation, though the mine also received a one-off authorisation for extra volume from March to May. The company’s water policy sets an aim of a 70% recycling rate, and a surface and groundwater monitoring programme runs alongside it.

3. Tailings control and audits

Tailings are the ground rock left after gold extraction, and they contain residual reagents such as cyanide. The 2025 report lists two tailings storage facilities at Syama. The latest external audits, commissioned in October 2025, found no fatal flaws, and the company reports no structural integrity incidents in six years. Resolute’s tailings page commits it to align with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management; a third-party review took place in 2025 and an action plan towards conformance is in place. In-pit disposal also continues in the Beta pit, and the company is discussing an extension beyond the end of 2026 and other options with the government.

4. Air quality monitoring around the roaster

Roasting releases sulphur dioxide (SO2), the mine’s largest air issue. SO2 emitted was 76,350 t in 2025, down from 85,282 t in 2024, tracking lower roaster feed. Five stations in nearby communities (Syama, Fourou, Tembleni, Bananso and N’Golopene) measure SO2, fine particles and dust. Mali has no national ambient standard, so results are assessed against World Bank guidelines. The company says results were generally below the 24-hour guideline of 500 μg/m3 used in the site’s impact studies and that no SO2 complaints were recorded in 2025.

5. A hybrid power station with battery storage

There is no grid connection near the site. A hybrid station commissioned in 2021 provides 30 MW from thermal generators, with a heavy fuel oil facility and a 10 MW battery that replaces some spinning reserve. It still runs on fossil fuel. The FY2025 climate report gives Syama Scope 1 emissions of 265,275 t CO2e, of which 142,037 t are non-biogenic. The company says topography, land access and mine life limit large renewable investment.

6. Community funds, jobs and grievance handling

Eight villages with about 47,500 people lie close to the mine. Resolute reports that development needed no physical resettlement, though land acquisition has affected some farming and grazing land. Syama pays 0.75% of quarterly revenue into a local development fund, and entry-level and semi-skilled roles are reserved for local and regional workers. In 2025, the site logged 14 grievances, mainly about agricultural land, employment and dust. Artisanal mining also occurs near the operation and is covered by the engagement structures. The report describes an assessment of its effect on soil and surface water west of Beta pit.

7. Closure planning and progressive rehabilitation

Resolute’s rehabilitation page gives about 970 ha of disturbed land at Syama and says progressive rehabilitation will be done where feasible under the closure plan. Closure planning includes risks such as acid mine drainage from tailings or waste rock. The same page states a no-net-loss aim for critical habitat across operations; the detailed offset programme it describes is at Mako, not Syama. Syama’s ISO 14001 environmental certificate was awaiting renewal in the second quarter of 2026 when the report was written, so check its current status.

▶ The main environmental impacts of mining, explained · 2:31

Risks to check at the Syama gold mine

• Security and logistics: Mine magazine recorded a January 2026 attack on the Morila gold mine elsewhere in Mali. At Syama, explosive deliveries were interrupted in 2026, and an on-site emulsion plant was being commissioned in the September quarter.
• Fiscal terms: royalties rise with price, so a higher gold price does not pass fully to margin.
• Staffing: visa limits slowed the conversion project.
• Ore mix: oxide is depleting, so results depend on sulphide throughput and roaster recovery.
• Tailings: in-pit disposal in Beta pit needs an extension or an alternative after 2026.
• Safety: the 2025 report records nine lost-time injuries at Syama and a recordable injury rate of 2.52 per million hours. See our note on mine safety measures.

For comparison across the sector, see our lists of major gold producing countries, large gold mining companies and countries for gold mining investment. Mine magazine forecast Mali’s output to rise 28% in 2026, supported mainly by the Loulo-Gounkoto restart, with added output from the Syama Phase I and Fekola Regional projects.

Using satellite data on ground near Syama-style deposits

Consultants reviewing licences in the Sikasso region can compare surface change, tailings footprints and artisanal workings from public satellite archives before visiting. Exploration teams can also use satellite-based mineral detection to rank early targets with no ground disturbance at that stage. Those results are exploration targets that sit ahead of a resource estimate, not a resource or an environmental clearance. To discuss an area, use the mining query form or contact our team.

▶ What satellites can and cannot show in gold exploration · 4:25

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Syama gold mine?

It is in the Commune of Fourou, Sikasso Region, southern Mali. That is about 300 km southeast of Bamako and 30 km from the Côte d’Ivoire border.

Who owns Syama mine in Mali?

SOMISY owns it. Resolute Mining holds 80% of SOMISY and the Government of Mali holds 20%.

How much gold does Syama produce?

It produced 176,341 oz in 2025. Guidance for 2026 is 150,000-160,000 oz, with 105,460 oz poured in the first nine months.

Is Syama an underground or open-pit mine?

Both. The main ore source is an underground sub-level cave. Syama North (A21) and several satellite deposits are open pits.

What is the all-in sustaining cost at Syama?

It was US$2,008/oz in 2025 and US$2,459/oz for the first nine months of 2026. Full-year 2026 guidance is US$2,300-2,400/oz.

How much gold is left at Syama?

Mali Ore Reserves were 3,885 koz at 31 December 2025, including 805 koz at Tabakoroni, on a 100% basis. Mineral Resources were 9,101 koz.

Why does Syama use a roaster?

Its sulphide ore locks gold inside sulphide minerals. Roasting the flotation concentrate at about 720°C breaks those minerals down so that leaching can reach the gold.

What is the Syama Sulphide Conversion Project?

It lifts sulphide capacity from 2.4 Mt to 4.0 Mt a year as oxide ore depletes. Roaster commissioning finished in the September 2026 quarter, with crusher and mill circuits still to follow.

What happened between Resolute and the Mali government?

Three executives were detained in November 2024 during a dispute over state claims. They were released after a deal involving about US$160 million, and the assets moved to the 2023 Mining Code.

What environmental issues does Syama face?

The main reported ones are SO2 from roasting, fuel-oil power emissions, tailings storage, dust, water use from the Bagoe River and land taken from farming and grazing.

Is Tabakoroni part of Syama?

It is run with Syama but sits on a separate licence about 32 km south. SOMIFI holds it, 90% Resolute and 10% the government.

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