Acacia rebuffs reports that it violated Tanzanian concentrate export ban

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – London-listed gold producer Acacia Mining has denied allegations that it is trying to export gold and copper concentrates from Tanzania, despite the ban instituted by that country's government.

Neither the company nor its customers have attempted to export gold and copper concentrates, the company said in a press release on Tuesday.

Over the weekend, the Tanzania Port Authority inspected containers in the normal course of business, sparking “misinformation and inaccurate speculation” in the media.

In the wake of several African nations pushing for increased domestic beneficiation of minerals, instead of just exporting raw materials, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals halted the export of unprocessed ore on March 3, following President John Magufuli's call for more gold smelters to be built in the country.

Acacia, which is majority owned by Canadian gold major Barrick Gold, said the Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines continued to operate following the restrictions and gold and copper concentrate was being stored at the mine sites.

The miner reiterated that this storage could not be indefinite.

The company on Friday said it was losing more than $1-million in revenue a day at the two mines because of the ban.

Tanzania is Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer, and Acacia has been exporting concentrate from Bulyanhulu since 2001 and from Buzwagi since 2010.