10 April 2018
Acacia Mining
plc
(“Acacia”, “Group” or the
“Company”)
First Quarter 2018
Production Results
“Acacia continued to demonstrate resilient operating performance
and delivered solid production of 120,981 ounces of gold in the
first quarter across the Group, which sets us in good stead to
deliver against our full year guidance of 435,000-475,000 ounces,”
said Peter Geleta, Interim Chief
Executive Officer. “All three of our operations delivered in
line with their respective mine plans and we were pleased to record
an increase in our cash balance to US$107
million, driven by the sale of a non-core royalty that
completed in January 2018, which
helped to further stabilise our balance sheet.”
Group gold production for the quarter was in line with
expectations at 120,981 ounces, a 55% decrease on Q1 2017 (219,620
ounces), primarily driven by the move to reduced operations at
Bulyanhulu and to stockpile processing at Buzwagi. Gold ounces sold
for the quarter of 116,955 ounces were slightly below gold produced
for the quarter as a result of the timing of shipments.
At North Mara, gold production for the quarter of 76,769 ounces
was, as expected, 20% lower than Q1 2017’s strong, grade-driven
performance of 96,468 ounces. This was primarily due to lower head
grade, driven by the underground mine grade of 7.0 grams per tonne
being 28% lower than the prior year period as a result of mining
taking place in the lower-grade west zone of the Gokona
Underground.
At Buzwagi, gold production of 35,685 ounces for Q1 2018 was 41%
lower than in Q1 2017 (59,856 ounces) as a result of production now
being derived from lower grade ore stockpiles due to the effective
completion of the open pit.
At Bulyanhulu, gold production for the quarter amounted to 8,527
ounces, 87% below Q1 2017 (63,346 ounces). During the quarter all
production came from the retreatment of tailings as a result of the
underground mine being placed on reduced operations in late
2017.
The cash balance as at 31 March
2018 amounted to approximately US$107
million and increased by US$26
million during the quarter, with net cash increasing by
US$40 million to approximately
US$50 million at period end.
During the quarter we repaid a further US$14
million of the CIL debt facility and received US$45 million from the sale of a non-core
royalty, announced in December
2017.
Acacia will be releasing its first quarter results at
07:00 BST on 19 April and a
conference call will be held for analysts and investors at
08:30 BST on the same day. The access
details for the conference call are as follows:
Participant dial
in: 020 3936
2999
Password:
88 94 64
ENQUIRIES
For further information, please visit our website: or
contact:
Acacia Mining plc |
+44 (0) 20 7129 7150 |
Giles Blackham, Head of Investor
Relations
Camarco |
+44 (0) 20 3757 4980 |
Gordon Poole / Nick Hennis
About Acacia Mining plc
Acacia Mining plc (LSE:ACA) is Tanzania’s largest gold miner and
one of the largest producers of gold in Africa. We have three mines, all located in
north-west Tanzania: Bulyanhulu,
Buzwagi, and North Mara and a portfolio of exploration projects in
Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Acacia is a UK public company headquartered in London. We are listed on the Main Market of
the London Stock Exchange with a secondary listing on the Dar es
Salaam Stock Exchange. Barrick Gold Corporation is our majority
shareholder. Acacia reports in US dollars and in accordance with
IFRS as adopted by the European Union, unless otherwise stated in
this announcement.
Disclaimer and forward-looking
statements
This announcement is for information
purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to
underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any
securities of Acacia in any jurisdiction.
This announcement includes
“forward-looking statements” that express or imply expectations of
future events or results as opposed to historical facts. These
statements include, financial projections and estimates and their
underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and
expectations with respect to future production, operations, costs,
projects, and statements regarding future performance.
Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words
“plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,”
“estimates” and other similar expressions.
All forward-looking statements
involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of
which are beyond the control of Acacia, which could cause actual
results and developments to differ materially from those expressed
in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements contained herein.
Factors that could cause or contribute to differences between the
actual results, performance and achievements of Acacia include, but
are not limited to, changes or developments in political, economic
or business conditions or national or local legislation or
regulation in countries in which Acacia conducts - or may in the
future conduct - business, industry trends, competition,
fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold or certain other
commodity prices (such as copper and diesel), currency fluctuations
(including the US dollar, South African rand, Kenyan shilling and
Tanzanian shilling exchange rates), Acacia’s ability to
successfully integrate acquisitions, Acacia’s ability to recover
its reserves or develop new reserves, including its ability to
convert its resources into reserves and its mineral potential into
resources or reserves, and to process its mineral reserves
successfully and in a timely manner, Acacia’s ability to complete
land acquisitions required to support its mining activities,
operational or technical difficulties which may occur in the
context of mining activities, delays and technical challenges
associated with the completion of projects, risk of trespass, theft
and vandalism, changes in Acacia’s business strategy and ongoing
implementation of operational reviews, as well as risks and hazards
associated with the business of mineral exploration, development,
mining and production and risks and factors affecting the gold
mining industry in general.
Although Acacia’s management believes
that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements
are reasonable, Acacia cannot give assurances that such statements
will prove to be correct. Accordingly, investors should not place
reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement
only reflect information available at the time of preparation. Save
as required under the Market Abuse Regulation or otherwise as may
be required under applicable law, Acacia explicitly disclaims any
obligation or undertaking publicly to update or revise any
forward-looking statements in this announcement, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing in
this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast or
estimate and no statement made should be interpreted to mean that
Acacia’s profits or earnings per share for any future period will
necessarily match or exceed its historical published profits or
earnings per share.