By Portia Crowe, Divya Rajagopal and Giulia Paravicini DAKAR (Reuters) -Mali began flying gold out of Canadian miner Barrick Gold's Loulo-Gounkoto complex by helicopter on Saturday, four sources close to the situation said,

Mali’s military government has started seizing gold stocks of the Canadian mining company Barrick as part of a legal battle over the share of revenue owed to the West African state, according to an internal Barrick letter seen by The Associated Press.

Barrick Gold faces turmoil in Mali as government reportedly executes a provisional order to seize gold stockpiles, threatening operations at Loulo-Gounkoto mine.

Mali's government has begun enforcing a provisional order to seize gold stock at Barrick Gold's Loulo-Gounkoto site, the Canadian miner said in a note to Malian staff, warning again that it may have to suspend operations at the complex.

Mali’s military junta started executing an interim order to seize gold at a mine run by Barrick Gold Corp., escalating a dispute over the West African government’s share of revenues from the project.

The Malian junta orders is choppering gold stockpiles out of Barrick Gold‘s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) Loulo-Gounkoto complex, Reuters reports. The airlift began Saturday, the newswire said, citing four

The Malian military government seized around three metric tons of gold from Barrick Gold's Loulo-Gounkoto complex, valued at $245 million. This action comes amidst a long-standing dispute over mining contracts.

Mali's military government has seized three tonnes of gold from Barrick amid a legal dispute over revenue sharing, valued at USD 180 million.

Mali began flying gold out of Canadian miner Barrick Gold's Loulo-Gounkoto complex by helicopter on Saturday, four sources close to the situation said, after the military-led government last week ordered the seizure of the stock.