Acacia paid $184m in taxes to governments in 2016

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Acacia Mining paid $184-million in 2016 to the governments of countries where it operates.

Of this, the Tanzanian government received $88.11-million in income tax and royalties. When payroll-related and other taxes are included, this figure amounts to $165-million.

“As the home to our three operating mines, Tanzania receives the majority of our contribution to governments and we invest around 80% of our revenues back into the country.

“However, over the past few years, we have also expanded our business beyond Tanzania, with active exploration programmes . . . taking place across Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali,” CFO Andrew Wray said in a report released on Friday.

He added that, together with the increase in royalties and the other taxes it pays, the miner’s contribution to Tanzania had increased by 39% year-on-year.

Acacia and the Tanzanian government are currently in a dispute over back taxes. The Tanzanian government has accused the gold miner of failing to pay billions of dollars in taxes, after two Presidential committees determined that the company  underdeclared its mineral exports.

Acacia, however, believes the committees  overstated the value of concentrates it had exported.

Reuters on Thursday reported that the Tanzanian government  submitted three new Bills to Parliament that would enable it to force mining and energy companies to renegotiate their contracts with  government. This follows after one of the Presidential committees had called for an overhaul of the country’s mining code.