Canadian gold miner Robex Resources Inc. (RBX.V) said Tuesday it had received the last go-ahead it needed to open the Nampala mine in Mali, a country plunged into chaos by a recent coup and ongoing civil war.

The Quebec-based company said it received a 30-year production permit Tuesday, the same day that Mali's borders with other west African states closed down. The landlocked country's neighbors are using such moves to force Mali's military out of power.

Once a promising democracy, Mali's government was overthrown March 22, by junior officers furious over the slow provision of arms to fight an insurrection in the country's north.

Nearby miners including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU) and Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD) are faced with the challenges of staying operational in a country split by civil war. In an April 1 interview, Rangold's Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow told Dow Jones Newswires that the company's Mali mines only had enough diesel to continue at full capacity for two weeks.

Rebels, meanwhile, say they now control the entirety of northern Mali, a region larger than France. Most of the country's gold mines are far from that conflict zone, but still dependent on imported fuel--virtually all of Mali's fuel comes from Senegal or Ivory Coast, both countries that have closed their Malian borders.

-By Drew Hinshaw, The Wall Street Journal; +221-77-698-45-61; drew.hinshaw@gmail.com