TORONTO (Reuters) - 18/02/10 "Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO) said on Thursday it will spin off its African gold assets into a new publicly traded company.
Barrick announced the moves as it unveiled a doubling of fourth-quarter operating profit, driven by gold prices that soared to record levels in the final three months of 2009.
The new company, to be called African Barrick Gold (ABG), will list on the London Stock Exchange and will hold Barrick's African gold mines and exploration properties. Barrick plans to retain a 75 percent interest in ABG initially.
ABG also intends to seek a future listing on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in Tanzania.
Barrick, the world's top gold producer, operates four African mines, all in Tanzania.
ABG is expected to produce 800,000 to 850,000 ounces of gold in 2010, with total reserves of 16.8 million ounces as of December 31.
"Size-wise it's bigger than (mid-tier miner) Randgold Resources (RRS.L) and certainly it would be... one of the prime gold listings on the LSE," said Leon Esterhuizen, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in London.
Due to the spinoff, Barrick trimmed its 2010 production forecast to a range of 7.6 million to 8.0 million ounces from its previous estimate of 7.7 million to 8.1 million ounces.
Barrick said it plans to use proceeds from the ABG spinoff to fund its pipeline of development projects.
PROFIT RISES, TOPS ESTIMATES
Excluding a $241 million charge related to the hedge book buyout and other one-time items, fourth-quarter earnings rose to $604 million, or 61 cents a share, from $277 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had expected, on average, 57 cents a share.
On a net basis, Barrick earned $215 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $468 million, or 53 cents a share.
Revenue jumped 13 percent to $2.36 billion.
Average realized gold prices in the quarter were $1,119 per ounce, up from $809 a year earlier, as the metal charged to a record price above $1,200 an ounce in the final months of the year. This offset the impact of a 17 percent drop, to 1.8 million ounces, in the amount of gold Barrick sold .
Total cash costs per ounce, which Barrick expects to come down as it opens new lower-cost mines, were little changed at $474.
Barrick expects 2010 gold production costs in a range of $425 to $455 per ounce. In 2009 it produced 7.42 million ounces at a total cash cost of $466 per ounce."
($1=$1.04 Canadian)
The deal, arranged by J.P. Morgan (JPM.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N), will run a bookbuilding between March 5 and March 18.

StockMarketWire.com
African Barrick Gold's third quarter revenues rose to $241m, 9% up on last year, as higher sales volumes more than offset lower average realised gold prices.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 17% to $76m due to increased revenue and lower cash costs.

Gold production was 16% up at 190,986 ounces and gold sales were 11% higher at 178,490 oz.

Chief executive Brad Gordon, said the increase in output was further evidence that the changes being implemented continue to improve performance.

He added: "As a result we have delivered our eighth successive quarterly reduction in all-in sustaining costs (AISC).

"During the quarter we generated US$17 million in net cash flow and have now increased our cash balance year to date, after returning US$14 million in dividends to our shareholders and continuing to invest in growth.

"The optimisation of our assets continues with good progress made during the quarter on the projects at both Bulyanhulu and North Mara and we are looking forward to setting out our longer term plan for the business at our Investor Day on 27 November."

Westhouse Securities reiterates add on African Barrick Gold, target raised from 230p to 240p.

StockMarketWire.com
A General Meeting of African Barrick Gold was held on 26 November 2014 to consider a Change of Company Name to Acacia Mining plc which, if passed, would take effect as of 27 November 2014.

The final voting figures of the poll as certified by the scrutineers, Computershare Investor Services, showed that 100% voted in favour of the Special Resolution.

This company is now called Acacia Mining under the ticker ACA.

ACA ........

Fantastic update....AHEAD OF GUIDANCE.............

http://www.investegate.co.uk/acacia-mining-plc--aca-/prn/4th-quarter-production-results/20150116070000P20DA/

BRIEF – Acacia Mining 2014 production comes in ahead of guidance
16 Jan 2015 - 07:10

Jan 16 (Reuters) – Acacia Mining Plc :

Q4 gold production of 181,084 ounces and gold sales of 194,243 ounces
Preliminary Q4 AISC of $1,088 per ounce sold, 6 percent lower than Q4 2013
Source text for Eikon: ... Further company coverage: ACAA.L

(Bengaluru Newsroom: +91 806 749 1136)

16 Jan 2015 Acacia Mining Plc... ACA JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight 0.00 299.70 - - Reiterates

Feel free to start a new thread gf. This one is a bit misleading now.

will do later Harry, cheers. Bit busy at the moment.

Acacia Mining Eyes M&A As Turnaround Strategy Delivers Cash

Acacia Min (LSE:ACA)

Today : Friday 16 January 2015
By Alex MacDonald

LONDON--Acacia Mining PLC (ACA.LN) is setting its sights on acquiring gold-producing assets as it starts to reap the rewards from its turnaround strategy, said the company's chief executive Friday.

"2015 is the year where we start looking at growth opportunities," said Brad Gordon in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "We are interested in production assets, particularly in Africa."

Mr. Gordon joined Acacia Mining about a year and a half ago with a view to accelerating the company's turnaround strategy by cutting costs and ramping up production from more profitable gold ounces in a lower gold price environment. The turnaround strategy is paying-off with all-in sustaining costs dropping for a ninth consecutive quarter, last quarter, and output rising for a second year in a row after years of decline. These two factors resulted in the company's first annual free cash flow since 2011, Mr. Gordon said.

As the company's cashpile continues to grow, Acacia plans to take advantage of the recent gold price slump to buy gold assets at attractive valuations.

The company, formerly known as African Barrick Gold, is interested in assets that are able to produce at least 270,000oz of gold. Geographically the company is interested in Senegal, Ghana and Mali, areas where the company is already considering investing in exploration acreage, Mr. Gordon said.

Acacia produced 718,651 troy ounces last year based on an all-in sustaining cash cost of $1,105/oz. Gold output rose 13% on year while the cash cost dropped 18%, in line with the company's guidance.

Acacia, which is majority owned by Canada-based gold producer Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), plans to ramp up production to around 800,000 oz of gold at a cash cost below $900/oz in 2016, according to a November investor day presentation.

Operationally, the key focus will be to ramp up the Bulyanhulu mine to full production capacity by year-end. Mr. Gordon said he was comfortable with North Mara and Buzwagi's operational performance but thought Bulyanhulu could do better.

Acacia's shares were down 1.5% at 295 pence a share as of 1031 GMT.

The company had $294 million in cash as of the end of 2014 up $12 million from a year before.

Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

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


http://moneyweek.com/prices-news-charts/acacia-mining-output-exceeds-guidance/

Taken from KIBO's operational update 30 Dec 2014:

For Imweru we will be finalising our review of the Preliminary Economic Assessment report and be reporting to market various operational and financial data from the report in the near future. We are also seeking to confirm the strategic direction for Imweru and are in discussions with various parties in this regard. This could lead to a sale of the asset or a decision to move the asset down the development pathway toward the cash generative production phase. We will update shareholders in this regard, as soon as possible.

Acacia hold 10% of Imweru and already operate close by. it would possibly make strategic sense for Acacia to buy the remaining 90% of Imweru. If they do I doubt it will have much impact on Acacia's share price, but it will certainly give KIBO a healthy boost.

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.