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,

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) has told the Mali government it will suspend mining operations in Mali after the government seized gold stocks from the Loulo-Gounkoto complex and flew them out by helicopter over the weekend,

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.