Tanzania gold export ban costing Acacia $1m a day in lost revenue

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The recent implementation of a gold and copper exports ban by the Tanzanian government is costing its largest gold miner, Acacia Mining, an average of $1-million a day in revenues.

LSE-listed Acacia Mining on Friday said it was now taking a “range of actions” at its Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines to manage this financial impact.

The company, whose biggest shareholder is Canada's Barrick Gold, further noted that it was in continued engagements with local government to have the directive lifted, but to date, there had been no change in the situation.

“We are a long-term investor in Tanzania and we are fully committed to supporting local businesses. To this end, we have offered to support and partner with the government in a new study by third-party experts to assess the economic potential of building of a smelter in Tanzania capable of processing our concentrate,” the miner said in a statement.

Acacia’s mines were continuing to operate as normal and, as a minimum, have sufficient capacity to be able to place gold/copper concentrate into containers on site beyond the end of April.

However, prior to reaching this point, during April, Acacia will reassess how long it can continue to produce as normal if the ban remains in place and what other measures may be necessary.

“Up to that point, we will focus on engaging with the relevant authorities in Tanzania with a view to resolving the stoppage of the export of gold/copper concentrate and other related issues as soon as possible,” it said.

London-based mining-focused brokerage SP Angel analyst John Meyer stated that the mounting daily revenue losses and the filling up of on-site concentrate storage capacity add to the pressure for a speedy resolution as, one has to assume, at some point the company will be forced to consider suspending operations.