VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The world’s largest gold producer by volume, Canada’s Barrick Gold, on Thursday revealed that up to 6% of its attributable output could be affected by the ongoing ban on mineral concentrate exports affecting the operations of its 63.9% subsidiary Acacia Mining, in Tanzania.
Acacia’s Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi operations are affected by the Tanzanian concentrate export ban.
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.
Barrick’s current 2017 guidance assumes output of 545 000 oz to 575 000 oz of gold attributable to it from Acacia’s activities, at all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $880/oz to $920/oz.
In total, Acacia accounts for about 10% of Barrick’s 2017 gold guidance.
Barrick pledged its full support as Acacia works to resolve this matter with the Tanzanian government. Barrick will evaluate any necessary adjustments to its full-year outlook should Acacia determine a revision to its own 2017 guidance is required, the miner said.
Analysts have questioned whether the country produces enough ore from all mines combined to justify the cost of building a single smelter.
For 2017, Barrick expects to produce between 5.6-million and 5.9-million ounces of gold, at an AISC of $720/oz to $770/oz.