Acacia Mining Q2 gold production jumps 19%

Acacia Mining said second quarter gold production rose 19% year-on-year to 158,774 ounces mainly due to higher production at its North Mara mine in Tanzania.

“We remain confident of achieving production within our guidance of 500,000 to 550,000 ounces for the year,” the company said.

The company is locked in an increasingly acrimonious takeover battle with majority shareholder Barrick Gold.

Canada's Barrick wants to snap up the 36.1 per cent of Acacia it does not own to end a dispute with the Tanzania government over unpaid taxes.

Barrick has until tomorrow to make a formal offer. Yesterday Legal & General, which holds almost 1% of Acacia, said the bid raised “serious questions about fair treatment of minority shareholders and as such is not acceptable to us as long-term Acacia shareholders”.

“This transaction would also create an unwelcome precedent for other disputes of a similar nature,” the Financial Times quoted L&G fund manager Nick Stansbury as saying.

Barrick wants to buyout Acacia as it claims it is the only way to resolve a dispute that has left the company unable to export gold.