Acacia Mining plc (formerly African Barrick Gold plc) is Tanzania's largest gold producer and one of the five largest gold producers in Africa. It has four mines, all located in Northwest Tanzania, and several exploration projects at various stages of development in Tanzania and Kenya. It has a high-quality asset base, solid growth opportunities and a clear strategy of: * driving operating efficiencies to optimise production from our existing asset base; * growing through near mine expansion and development of advanced-stage projects; and * organic greenfield growth and acquisitions in Africa.

Links...
Company Web Sitehttp://www.acaciamining.com/

Company Calendar http://www.acaciamining.com/investors/financial-calendar.aspx

Former Thread as African Barrick Gold http://www.moneyam.com/InvestorsRoom/posts.php?tid=14880#lastread thanks to Harry for giving go ahead to swap to new name.

MONEY WEEK.

Acacia Mining output exceeds guidance
16/01/2015

Acacia Mining saw further progress in the fourth quarter resulting in full year production of 718,651 ounces, ahead of its original guidance and a 13% improvement on 2013.


Chief executive Brad Gordon said: “As a result of our continued cost discipline we have delivered our ninth successive quarterly reduction in all-in sustaining costs (AISC) and generated net cash flow of US$7 million in the quarter.

“During Q4 2014 we produced 181,084 ounces of gold, an improvement of 10% on the same period in 2013, driven by strong production at North Mara and the contribution of the new CIL circuit at Bulyanhulu. Bulyanhulu started to step up in the quarter and we remain focused on accelerating this as we move through 2015.”

Highlights

* Q4 2014 gold production of 181,084 ounces and gold sales of 194,243 ounces

* Preliminary Q4 2014 AISC1,2 of US$1,088 per ounce sold, 6% lower than Q4 2013 and 1% down on Q3 2014

* Preliminary Q4 2014 cash cost of US$744 per ounce sold, 4% lower than Q4 2013


* Full year 2014 production of 718,651 with full year sales of 703,680, 4% above the upper end of our initial production guidance of 650,000-690,000 ounces

* Preliminary full year 2014 AISC1,2 of US$1,105 per ounce sold, at the bottom of our guidance range, and 18% down on 2013

* Preliminary full year cash cost of US$732 per ounce sold, 10% down on 2013, and below our guidance range

* Cash balance increased by US$7 million during the quarter to end the year at approximately US$294 million

London’s leading gold forecaster: gold to average $1321 in 2015
By Tom Winnifrith | Saturday 17 January 2015

Over the past 15 years Ross Norman of Sharps Pixley has been the forecaster with the best record in the LBMA for predicting gold price moves so you should take his gold price forecasts seriously. Ross writes, "We are going out on a limb this year." Indeed.

AVERAGE : $1321

HIGH : $1450

LOW : $1170

If markets move on what you don't know today, but will know tomorrow then it follows that many factors such as a US interest rate rises should already be factored into the current price... it also begs the question what the new drivers for 2015 will be. We see ongoing declines in economic growth prompting central banks to fight deflation by resorting to inflationary pressures in H2.

If our outlook for gold in dollar terms is bullish, in emerging currencies it may be even more so as investors seek to insure or hedge against currency debasement. As such, we foresee good demand for the physical.

Most annoyingly for bulls in 2014, gold exhibited 'rally fade' despite a global economy that was as fragile as ever. Our forecast is predicated on gold becoming price inelastic (as it was in the early 2000's) and able to sustain the momentum. I say annoyingly because arguably never before have savers potentially so needed an asset with the wealth preservation qualities that gold provides ... yet the price performance these last few years has disappointed.

In short, we see gold demonstrating that it has turned a corner and investor flows return with a vengeance, aided by short covering and fresh longs in the futures markets. Perhaps most disappointingly though we are unlikely to see runaway prices beyond the $1450 level without either significant new product innovations or without the sort of black swan events in the economy that few of us would wish for.

SILVER

AVERAGE : $18.56

HIGH : $21.75

LOW : $14.50

With a firm outlook for gold, it follows that our expectations for silver would be similar ... and a little more so... such is silver's propensity to follow gold in a exaggerated fashion. Investors will take comfort from

silver ETF holdings which have remained firm (unlike gold) coupled with retail sales of the physical coins and bars which have remained robust.

Even mine production looks set for a modest decline back to levels last seen in 1999. With 75% of silver being produced as a by-product of base metals mining, the weaker global economy may well prompt some cut-backs in mining those host metals. Equally, demand from industrial applications will be correspondingly weaker, but investors (... or more likely speculators) are normally on hand to fill the void.

Like gold, silver does seem to struggle to sustain momentum to the upside as it experiences 'rally fade' for this reason we do not see the likelihood of runaway prices just yet.

Gold miners are starting to look good again – but expect a rough ride

By: Dominic Frisby
14/01/2015

http://moneyweek.com/gold-miners-look-good-again-but-expect-a-rough-ride/

CHARLES STANLEY BROKERS

Commodities

Gold (1279.81) – the surge in the gold price continues, aided by the Swiss currency move
(the Swiss are widely seen as buyers of the precious metal) and by its safe-haven
characteristics. Last week’s 4.66% advance is notable for the fact that it resulted in a clear
move above the long-term downtrend and the extent of the break has changed the basis
somewhat, to the extent that further strength now appears to be a realistic expectation
(notwithstanding the fact that the price has become somewhat overbought of late). The next
upside target is last August’s intermediate high, at $1313 or so.

19 Jan 2015 Acacia Mining Plc... ACA Numis Buy 299.20 301.00 - 340.00 Reiterates

SP TARGET 340p

19 Jan 2015 Acacia Mining Plc... ACA Barclays Capital Overweight 299.20 301.00 - - Reiterates

Loads errrrrrr money doodlemug.

ACA UPGRADE..........

22 Jan 2015 Acacia Mining Plc... ACA Investec Buy 315.95 313.50 170.00 342.00 Upgrades

SP TARGET 342p.

23 Jan 2015 Acacia Mining Plc... ACA JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 308.25 310.00 360.00 360.00 Reiterates

SP TARGET 360p

I know your in this one cynic and gf is ramping it over the road. He may have a point, noticed this is the third time rallied off RSI figure so worth a punt Long on the spreads @ 318p tight stop 308p.

Forgot to mention 25DMA bounce. Fingers crossed.

hi chris ..... i do indeed hold (in sipp), though i'm afraid i bought too early in the very recent cycle
however, i think the markets are in for a torrid time - and yes, i have been saying this for far too long - so precious metals should come back into their own

Let's hope so, never traded these before. Just need some volume, chart looks good.

LATEST BROKER VIEWS

Date Broker New target Recomm.
6 May Deutsche Bank N/A Buy
5 May Barclays... 340.00 Equal weight
25 Apr Numis 400.00 Add

Stop to entry for risk free trade.

19:03 yesterday (friday)
Acacia Mining Plc said on Friday it was in early talks about a possible merger with Canadian gold miner Endeavour Mining Corp .

Acacia, which operates mines and exploration projects in Tanzania, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali, was responding to media reports. ...
The company added that there was no certainty of a deal.

Endeavour also confirmed preliminary discussions had taken place with Acacia. ...

Acacia had a market value of 1.72 billion pounds ($2.10 billion) as of Jan. 12, while Endeavour had a market value of C$ 2.18 billion ($1.66 billion).

Endeavour bought True Gold Mining Inc for about C$240 million in March, giving it access to a low-cost gold mine in Burkina Faso. ...

======================

which is the target?

All very strange indeed .... no wonder sp collapsed



Response to the Ministry of Energy and Minerals press release regarding the
export of metallic mineral concentrates

Acacia notes today’s press release from the Ministry of Energy and Minerals
regarding a ban on exports of gold/copper concentrate following a directive
made by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania. In 2016, gold/copper
concentrate amounted to approximately 30% of group revenues. At this stage,
Acacia has ceased exports of gold/copper concentrate and is urgently seeking
further clarification from the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. We will
provide further updates as appropriate.

this stock continues to be hammered due to the Tanzanian sudden embargo on exporting gold and iron ore, and the potential merger with Endeavour Mining which must also be delayed or even at risk

nevertheless, at some point (no ideas where) the shares will start to be serious value, though of course there will need to be some reflection of the underlying bullion price and it's immediate prospects

the 5-year chart below indicates that sp could fall another 100p before it hits real support
however, i recollect that when sp started to rise sharply, it was following the announcement of the discovery of further large reserves, or somesuch ..... i'm too lazy and busy to check that at the moment

Looking through the Reuters press releases over the last six months, Tanzania seems to be in economic turmoil and finding it very hard to stamp out corruption and tax evasion. I think that things are going to get worse before they get better, judging by the amount of negative news outflow.

Just a sample:
Reuters - Feb 2 Tanzanian President John Magufuli vowed on Thursday to toughen up a crackdown on tax evasion by big businesses including mining companies as the east African nation moves to boost domestic revenues.

Africa's fourth-largest gold producer, Tanzania also has vast deposits of natural gas, coal, diamonds, uranium and gemstones.

While addressing members of the judiciary in Tanzania's capital Dar es Salaam, Magufuli ordered the courts to enforce payment of tax claims worth more than 7.5 trillion Tanzanian shillings from big firms.

Magufuli launched a crackdown on graft and tax evasion when he took office in 2015 and has sacked dozens of senior public officials. Some businesses, though, say they have been unfairly hit with high tax bills.

Big firms are the main source of tax revenue for the government because Tanzania has a large informal economy that goes untaxed.

"It is unacceptable that an investor is extracting our minerals but doesn't pay taxes. That investor was taken to court and lost both the case and the appeal, yet still refuses to pay the taxes," Magufuli said.

He said that 7.5 trillion Tanzanian shillings worth of taxes were still unpaid by various firms even after the government won tax claim cases against them in courts and that this was hurting the east African nation's economy.

Magufuli asked Tanzania's judiciary to help stem corruption in the country, saying it was denying citizens access to justice.

"Some 28 magistrates were prosecuted (in Tanzania) last year for various criminal offences, mostly corruption, but all 28 of them were acquitted," said Magufuli.

"It is hard to believe that all 28 of them were absolutely not guilty."

Businesses in Tanzania often cite widespread corruption as one of the biggest obstacles to investment in the country. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by Elias Biryabarema and Hugh Lawson)

Sorry to say Jefferies paint a pretty gloomy picture:
"While the direct impact is clear, it is more than just greater uncertainty driving today's downgrade. Our past investment case and bullish view on the shares rested on several factors including growing FCF, higher shareholder returns, strengthened in-country relations and catalysts for a lowering of the ABX stake. All of which have now been negatively impacted, making the argument for a valuation re-rating much harder to justify.

The mid-January announcement of preliminary discussions with Endeavour Mining was a positive for the shares that, along with solid Q4 results, drove more than 20% outperformance vs UK peers through closing on Thursday. In our opinion, with a spike in jurisdictional risk in Tanzania, merger discussions with Endeavour are at the very least going to be delayed. This removes a key catalyst that was likely to have lowered ABX's stake and improve free float and liquidity.

At this point, we have cut 2017 estimates significantly to reflect the impacted volumes. EBITDA is reduced by 28% and stockpiled material drives working capital higher, weighing on FCF. Previous forecasts for high single-digit FCF yield in 2017 are now breakeven and the net cash balance shrinks by $14m YoY. We do believe the likely outcome is that ACA will be able to resume exporting but expect negotiations to be protracted."

exceedingly glad i banked all of mine about 10 days ago, purely because the gold price was looking soggy

re - glad i banked all of mine about 10 days ago

All lies as usual

If it goes up I bought... yesterday

If it goes down... I sold last week, 10 days ago etc.

the biggest liar in town some say and I agree.

note - naturally forgot to tell the board though has been posting many times since

you're right i lied ......
i actually sold on 1st march at 535.5 at just before 09:00

quite surprised you did not pick that up from my post on advfn where i know you follow me

you really are such a total and unremitting arsehole

Acacia Mining plc shares plummet on Tanzanian Government’s Report claiming irregularities in declared mineral-value

May 24, 2017

Acacia Mining plc (LON:ACA), a London-headquartered gold-mining company with operations in Africa, saw shares plummet nearly 30% this Wednesday following Tanzanian government’s claims that ACA’s containers carrying concentrates at the Dar es Salaam port had nearly 10 times the declared mineral-value by the company.

Acacia’s all three producing mines — Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi and North Mara — are located in north-west Tanzania; however, only the former two are involved in producing the concentrate, which is facing an export ban.

On 3rd March, Tanzanian authorities had issued a directive that prohibited Acacia’s export of gold/copper concentrate, which accounted for 30% of the company-revenue in 2016. The company said it’s taking a US$1 million hit per day to the top-line due to the same.

“During April we will reassess how long we can continue to produce as normal if the ban remains in place and what other measures may be necessary”, said Acacia in response to the directive then.

Due to the ban, ACA could not sell 34,926 ounces of gold, limiting sales to 184,744 during the first quarter of 2017, nearly same as the year-ago-quarter despite a 15% jump in production.

Tanzania formed a presidential committee to investigate ACA’s concentrate after the March-ban by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, limiting exports from ACA’s Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines.

Although ACA’s has asked for the full report after the committee announced its findings to the president, Dr. John P. Magufuli, in a public presentation earlier today, the situation seems to have worsened. For the foreseeable future, ACA would continue to experience a substantial contraction in its top-line, which analysts were expecting would see low-single-digit growth in 2017.

12 June 2017

Acacia Mining plc LSE:ACA

Update on the 2nd Presidential Committee Findings

Acacia notes the disappointing findings of the Presidential Second Committees report which were presented to the President of Tanzania H.E. Dr. John P. Magufuli this morning and which considered the historical economic and legal aspects of the export of metallic mineral concentrates.

The Second Committee has primarily based its findings on those of the First Presidential Committee, announced on 24 May 2017, that Acacia strongly refutes. That Committee based its findings on samples from 44 containers. Based on more than 20 years of data available to us it is impossible to reconcile those findings and they grossly overstate the value of the concentrates by more than 10 times.

The Second Committee has alleged that Acacia has under-declared revenues and tax payments over a number of years by tens of billions of US dollars. As a result it has made a series of recommendations including the payment of outstanding taxes and royalties, re-negotiation of large-scale Mineral Development Agreements, Government ownership in the mines, and the continuation of the export ban.

Acacia strongly refutes these new unfounded accusations. We have always conducted our business to the highest standards and operated in full compliance with Tanzanian law. We re-iterate that we have declared everything of commercial value that we have produced since we started operating in Tanzania and have paid all appropriate royalties and taxes on all of the payable minerals that we produce. In addition, our published accounts are annually audited to an international standard in accordance with IFRS.

Acacia has long sought to be a partner with the Government of Tanzania as we believe that we have similar goals in enhancing social and economic development in the country. However, this partnership must be based on fairness for all stakeholders, including the 96% of our employees at our mines who are Tanzanian, and our shareholders who have funded the US$4 billion of investment that Acacia has made into the country to date.

Acacia remains open to further dialogue with the Government regarding this issue and continues to assess all of its options. We will provide a further update to the market as soon as practical.

as i wrote on advfn this morning ....

ACA won't recover with gold, if ever ...... could even be a tanzanian plot to bankrupt the company so they can pick up the bits for nothing

The Tanzanian government are made up of crooks

really? ..... you amaze me, for i thought all these african countries were now as pure as the driven snow

You are just as sarcastic as ever... LOL

an outrageous slur

Very bad news for Acacia... looks like no light at the end of the tunnel.

Acacia could lose Tanzania mines

The second Tanzanian investigative committee has said Acacia Mining (LN:ACA) has no legal right to be operating in the country and owes the country tens of billions of US dollars in taxes and royalties.

President John Magufuli launched two committees in March at the same time as banning gold and copper concentrate exports.

The first committee reported last month and said Acacia was exporting 10 times more gold than it declared, which the miner said would make its Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi gold mines the biggest in the world.

Magufuli said the second committee had found something even more damaging.

“Acacia Gold Mining is operating in the country illegally because it has not been registered by the Business and Registration Licensing Agency,” he said according to The Citizen newspaper.

From the numbers given by Acacia – that it owes Tanzania tens of billions of dollars – it seems the second committee has followed on from the first committee’s workings.

That committee checked 277 containers bound for shipping that were holding gold and copper concentrate and said there was 250,000 ounces of gold in them, compared with Acacia’s stated 26,000oz.

The new report said Acacia could lose control of its three mines in the country, including North Mara.

“Since Acacia Mining plc has no registration or legal recognition in Tanzania, it does not qualify for a licence, to dig or to do business in mining,” a translation of the Swahili report (see attachment) said.

The committee also said it had underpaid taxes for years, according to an Acacia press release.

“The second committee has alleged that Acacia has under-declared revenues and tax payments over a number of years by tens of billions of US dollars,” the company said.

“As a result, it has made a series of recommendations including the payment of outstanding taxes and royalties, re-negotiation of large-scale mineral development agreements, government ownership in the mines, and the continuation of the export ban.”

“Acacia strongly refutes these new unfounded accusations. We have always conducted our business to the highest standards and operated in full compliance with Tanzanian law.”

The concentrate export ban in March blocked hundreds of concentrate containers leaving Tanzania and the miner has since built up major stockpiles.

It has continued to export gold doré but cash supplies have been hit as it loses US$1 million a day in revenue and is spending around $15 million a month extra because of the ban, CEO Brad Gordon said earlier this month.

The possibility of suspending Bulyanhulu, as Gordon floated, would be rendered moot if the government accepts the committees finding and decides Acacia has no right to continue mining.

told you so!

Maybe Acacia should just seek forgiveness and the sp would soon rise...


Acacia Mining has been accused by the Tanzanian government of operating in the country illegally. An audit ordered by President John Magufuli in March found that Acacia had been conducting business in Tanzania “contrary to the law,” said Nehemiah Osoro, chairman of a committee of academics, lawyers and economists that conducted the probe.

“We should summon them and demand that they pay us back our money,” Magufuli said after receiving the committee’s report. “If they accept that they stole from us and seek forgiveness in front of God and the angels and all Tanzanians and enter into negotiations, we are ready to do business.”

The audit has covered mineral exports over the past 19 years. The accusation is the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Acacia and the country where it mines all its gold. Last month, a Tanzanian presidential committee investigating the export of gold and copper concentrates, said that Acacia hasn’t fully declared all the minerals contained in its concentrate and directed that investigations into the concentrates be carried out.

The company has in several incidents announced that it was suffering loss for not exporting the concentrates, and added that it was losing $1 million a day because of a surprise ban on copper and gold concentrate exports, which has been levied by President John Magufuli and the Tanzanian government.

Acacia said it revealed everything of commercial value that it produces and pays all appropriate royalties and taxes.

Labour concerns

Meanwhile, the miner has also confirmed that it is in the process of retrenching its workers, mostly in the security section.
This comes in the wake of an announcement by the National Union for Mines and Energy Workers of Tanzania secretary, Nicodemus Kajungu, in a forum organised by opposition party ACT Wazalendo that Acacia was planning to lay off at least 400 workers.

Acacia communications and public relations manager Nectar Foya said in an email that the company would be outsourcing its security function at all three of its mines – North Mara, Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi, to a specialist security provider.

Foya did not say the actual number of workers to be retrenched, but she said consultations with employees were on-going.

“We have decided to outsource our security staff, because we believe that by doing so our people and assets will be protected in the best possible way,” she said.

Acacia Mining, one of the largest gold producers in Africa, will be forced to close its flagship mine in Tanzania unless the government lifts an export ban that has seen the company chew through almost half its cash pile in the past six months.

The FTSE 250 company, which is majority owned by Barrick Gold, has been involved in a bitter dispute with Tanzania’s President John Magufuli since he banned exports of unprocessed ores in March as part of a plan to promote the development of domestic smelting.

Brad Gordon, Acacia’s chief executive, said on Friday that the company would be “prudent” to mothball the Bulyanhulu mine if negotiations with the east Africa nation had not been concluded by the end of September.

“We have to protect our cash pile,” Mr Gordon said as the company released interim results.

Tanzania has accused Acacia, one of the country’s largest private employers, of operating illegally and failing to pay billions of dollars of taxes; the company has denied the charges.

In June, Tanzania agreed to start discussions with Barrick to try and settle the dispute, which has wiped £1bn off Acacia’s market value over the past six months.

Mr Gordon said he was disappointed not to be involved in the negotiations with the government but was confident of a positive outcome because both sides had too much to lose.

“We could be sitting here at the end of the year in a very different space,” he said.

Friday’s results showed Acacia’s cash position had fallen to $176m at the end of June, down from $318m at the beginning of the year, because it has been unable to sell 127,000 ounces of gold concentrate, or powder.

In the six months to June, revenue fell 22 per cent to $391.7m, while pre-tax profits were down just 2 per cent to $99.5m supported by “strong cost discipline”. Acacia did not declare an interim dividend because of the export ban.

“While the cash reduction is frightening, it is a natural reflection of the $1m a day that is being tied up in inventories while the export ban remains in place,” said Hunter Hillcoat, analyst at Investec Securities.

Acacia has invested more than $4bn in Tanzania over the past 20 years and operates three mines in the country. Bulyanhulu has been hit hardest by the export ban because almost half of its output is gold concentrate and it produces fewer valuable by-products such as copper.

Mr Gordon dismissed reports that two senior Acacia executives had been detained at an airport in Tanzania this week but said some of the company’s international contractors had faced difficulties getting work and residency permits.

Shares in Acacia fell 16 per cent, to a 17-month low of 234.5p on Friday. The shares are down 50 per cent since March and the company’s market value now stands below £1bn.

Things aren’t getting any easier for Acacia Mining, the FTSE 250 gold miner.

Shares in the company, which has been locked in a bitter dispute with the Tanzanian government that has left it unable to make any exports from its flagship mine, dropped another 10 per cent on Monday after a series of analyst downgrades.

JP Morgan, Citigroup and Jefferies all cut their target price after the company warned that it will be forced to close its flagship mine if it can’t reach a solution with the Tanzanian government soon.

Acacia’s shares were down at 209p, and have now fallen 60% since the dispute began in March.

Analysts at Citi, which already had a sell recommendation on the stock, said Acacia had done a good job of controlling costs and made positive progress with exploring for new projects, but said “the market is unlikely to appreciate the underlying business till a stable regulatory environment is established”.

Acacia’s majority owner Barrick Gold has been in discussions to try and settle the dispute with Tanzania, but Citi’s analysts said negotiations are likely to be “complex and time consuming”.

They added that “the level of uncertainty around timing and a wide degree of potential outcomes leave too much risk on the table under worst case scenarios”, despite the amount the shares have fallen already.

In a further setback for the company, human rights groups over the weekend accused Acacia of taking a “militarised” approach to guarding its assets in Tanzania, with a number of people shot at or near its North Mara gold mine.

Acacia Mining has been sent a tax bill from the Tanzanian authorities totalling around $190bn for unpaid tax and penalties from its Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines in the country, which the London-listed company disputes. The Tanzania Revenue Authority sent a demand for $154bn and $36bn to Bulyanhulu Gold Mine Limited and Pangea Minerals Limited, the holding companies for the two mines, in reference to alleged under-declared export revenues.

The TRA's assessments claim a total of close to $40bn of alleged unpaid taxes and roughly $150bn of penalties and interest owed. Analysts noted that the $40bn tax bill is more than twice what all top five global gold miners combined have paid in taxes since 2000.

Acacia, which said it disputed these assessments, is considering all of its options and rights and will provide a further update in due course. On 12 June, FTSE 250-listed was accused on by the government of operating in the country illegally, following two presidential mining committee reports that alleged the company had been understating its level of exports for several years to avoid "tens of billions of US dollars".

Acacia said on Monday that it "refutes each set of findings and re-iterates that it has fully declared all revenues" and is still yet to receive copies of the reports issued by either of the presidential committees. Both subsidiaries, BGML and PML, have already referred these allegations to international arbitration.

"The US$40bn tax bill is more than twice what all top five global gold miners combined have paid in taxes since 2000," said an astonished Investec on Tuesday morning, which had previously expressed concern over the behaviour and intent of the Tanzanian. "Back of mind was a view that sense would prevail, given parent Barrick appeared to have laid some grounds for rational discussions. However, this looks increasingly difficult to envisage."

The report from the second committee set up by Tanzanian President John Magufuli following the imposition of an export ban in March, accused the company of operating outside proper Tanzanian law and even of not being properly licensed to operate in the country.

Tanzania's parliament then voted through three new mining industry bills earlier, with Acacia earlier this month confirming parts of the legislation are now in force and being applied by Tanzanian authorities. This has seen the company begin paying higher royalties to the Tanzanian government for its production of gold and copper of 6%, up from 4%, plus a further 1% clearing fee on exports.

Acacia's shares had already been under extra pressure on Monday on news that it could soon face a lawsuit in the UK from relatives of people who died at one of its mines in the east African country. Acacia, said newspaper reports, could soon face compensation claims from a group being represented by law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn.

Shares in the company tanked 25% by the close on Monday to 184.5p, their lowest since late 2015, and on Tuesday fell a further 9% to 165.3p.

Acacia chops back at Bulyanhulu as Tanzanian impasse continues
By Brendan Ryan - September 4, 2017

Acacia Mining is to shut down underground operations at its Bulyanhulu gold mine in Tanzania which will drop group annual gold production by 100,000oz and cause “a significant reduction in the workforce from the current 1,200 employees and 800 contractor roles.”

The company is also cutting back on capital expenditure and assessing possible reductions in its exploration projects including expansionary drilling at North Mara and its greenfields exploration programme.

The steps were announced today by CEO Brad Gordon as a result of the impasse between the group and the government of Tanzania over the gold/copper export ban which was imposed on March 3 this year affecting some 35% of production from Acacia’s three operating mines in the country.

According to the statement from Acacia, “discussions between Barrick (Acacia’s controlling shareholder) and the Government of Tanzania are on-going. Acacia continues to support the discussions and still believes that a negotiated resolution is the best outcome for all stakeholders.”

Acacia said the ban had so far led to a build-up of about in $265m in concentrate inventory in Tanzania while the associated revenue loss – plus an outflow of $65m of “indirect taxes and costs from other changes to the operating environment” – had resulted in a cash outflow of about $210m so far during 2017.

The company added the concentrate export ban combined with the deterioration of the operating environment had “led to a negative cash flow of approximately $15m per month at the mine and thus has made ordinary course operations at Bulyanhulu unsustainable.”

Acacia said underground activity “will cease” and the processing of underground ore will end within four weeks. Retreatment of tailings – which is currently suspended because of drought conditions in northern Tanzania – should recommence in October assuming adequate rainfall is received.

The company said the costs of moving to this “reduced operational state” would include one-off expenses of $20m – $25m plus about $35m – $40m from “the natural unwinding of around two months’ worth of working capital.”

Bulyanhulu will also incur an average of $5m per month of operating cash outflows over the next three months before reaching a steady state of around $3m per month.

Acacia said that the Buzwagi mine – which is also affected by the concentrate ban – will continue to operate as normal “due to its remaining short life and lower impact of the changes in the operating environment on the company’s cash outflows.”

Acacia added it expected annual production to be “in the order of 100,000oz lower than the bottom of the previous guidance range of 850,000oz – 900,000oz. Previous AISC (all-in sustaining cost) guidance of between $880 -920 per ounce sold remains unchanged due to the impact of on-going cost saving initiatives and a further reduction in capital expenditure guidance to approximately $160m “

Acacia expected that “the group will be able to return to a positive cash generation in early 2018” but added that it is “evaluating further steps to reduce cash outflows and protect its balance sheet with the cash balance at the end of August 2017 amounting to $107m with $71m of debt.”

Anyone subscribing to the MoneyAM Level 2 platform please take note that most days it is not reporting the correct Trade High nor Trade Low information and "some days" not reporting the correct Opening Price or Closing Price.

The reason is because MoneyAM's Level 2 system is not sensing the Auto Trades or Ordinary Trades correctly so is wrongly reporting them

MoneyAM has been unable to fix the fault for over 8 weeks now but are still charging full price for their Level 2

Tanzania's President takes leaf out of Trump's playbook with wall plans

Upping the ante in the country's battle with international mining companies, Tanzania's President John Magufuli has ordered a wall to be built around its tanzanite mines to "control illegal mining and trading activities".
Magufuli, nicknamed 'the Bulldozer' for his no-nonsense style, said the army will construct a wall around the 15 square-kilometre mine site to curb smuggling of the rare gemstone, the local Citizen newspaper reported.
The President, who visited the area after a parliamentary probe into tanzanite mining industry, said the findings "shows how much the resource benefit a few".
The wall will come complete with cameras and checkpoints, with statement from the presidency saying that “all tanzanite gemstones will be controlled and will pass through one gate".
Tanzania’s central bank has been ordered by Magufuli to take part in the tanzanite buying trade, Reuters reported.
"President John 'The Bulldozer' Magufuli is apparently taking a leaf out of President Trump’s playbook, reportedly ordering the military to build walls around the country’s tanzanite mines," said analyst Yuen Low at Shore Capital.
Earlier this month, the Tanzanian government seized a 71.7k carat parcel from Petra Diamonds’ Williamson mine, which been registered as containing 14kg worth 33bn shillings but which the government apparently alleged contained nearly 30kg worth 65bn shillings.
Petra pointed out that the government has “complete oversight” of diamonds produced at the mine, which are “physically controlled by a number of different government representatives in conjunction with Petra” from point of recovery to point of sale.
ShoreCap's Low noted that the parcel had yet to be released and Petra still to be officially apprised of the grounds for the Tanzanian government’s action.
"We noted that if the developments at Acacia can be taken as a precedent, Petra could be waiting a very long time – as far as we are aware, Acacia is still waiting for reports that, in our view, should have in the interests of transparency been made available to it (and the public at large) in May 2017.
"We suspect that release of the Acacia and Petra reports would likely lead to a significant loss of face for President Magufuli, and we do not believe he is the sort of person to tolerate such a thing, so we would not be surprised if they never saw the light of day."

Tanzanian paper shut down for two years for ‘insulting’ President John Magufuli

Nairobi — An independent Tanzanian newspaper has been suspended for two years, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday, accusing the publication of sedition and endangering national security.

The critical Mwanahalisi newspaper was shut after publishing a letter on Monday from a reader containing "insults" against President John Magufuli and his government, said spokesperson Hassan Abbasi.

Abbasi said the paper had received several warnings. The daily has been shuttered on several occasions in the past — for three months in 2008 and then three years between 2012 and 2015.

The offending letter said that Magufuli "claims to be a patriot but questions the patriotism of anyone who opposes him. This is hypocritical".

Mocking Magufuli’s regular calls for people to pray for him, the article asks if one should not rather pray for opposition legislator Tundu Lissu, who was shot and injured earlier in September. His party, Chadema, has accused the government of being involved in the attack.

Abbasi said the letter was the latest in a long line of violations of "ethics [and] principles of the journalistic profession by the publication of false, seditious articles that endanger national security".

"Government is suspending printing and publication of the Mwanahalisi newspaper for 24 months," Abbasi said.

The ban comes just three months after the weekly Mawio was suspended for two years for linking two former presidents to dubious mining contracts.

Since his October election Magufuli has shut down newspapers, banned opposition rallies, switched off live broadcasts of parliamentary sessions and used a draconian "cyber crimes" law to jail critics.

His government is also increasingly targeting the gay community.

"This suspension is absolutely excessive and is yet another example of the repression that is being experienced by Tanzanian media," said Clea Kahn-Sriber of Reporters Without Borders.