Acacia CEO Brad Gordon
Photo by: Bloomberg
VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Canadian gold miner Endeavour Mining has halted discussions with London-listed Acacia Mining regarding a potential merger.
Endeavour, which operates a portfolio of gold mines in West Africa, has held talks with Acacia – which is majority owned by Canada's Barrick Gold – since mid-January.
In a separate statement, Acacia said it had concluded preliminary discussions with Endeavour but decided not to progress towards a combination of the companies, a deal that analysts have estimated would be worth about $4-billion.
Acacia earlier this month said it had stopped gold and copper concentrate exports from Tanzania following a ban by the government on the export of unprocessed ore, putting about 30% of its revenue at risk.
Tanzania is Africa's fourth-largest gold producer and Acacia its largest miner. The miner also has operations in Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali.
“We believe we will continue to unlock significant value at our operations in Tanzania, which are the foundations of our business, and are excited by the potential of the recently announced high-grade discovery in Kenya as we continue our journey towards creating a Pan-African mining company,” Acacia CEO Brad Gordon stated.