JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Shares of LSE-listed Acacia Mining slumped 12% after “new unfounded” accusations of the underdeclaration of revenues and tax payments stretching into the tens of billions of dollars emerged against it following the release of a report by a second Tanzanian Presidential committee on Monday.
The Tanzania-focused miner on Monday “strongly refuted” the claims that it was shortchanging the government, claiming that the value of concentrates was overstated by more than ten times and that it was impossible to reconcile the findings that were based on more than 20 years of data.
The second Presidential committee’s report, which was presented to Tanzania’s President Dr John Magufuli on Monday, recommended the payment of outstanding taxes and royalties, the renegotiation of large-scale mineral development agreements, government ownership in the mines and the continuation of the gold and copper concentrates export ban.
“We reiterate that we have declared everything of commercial value that we have produced since we started operating in Tanzania and have paid all appropriate royalties and taxes on all of the payable minerals that we produce,” Acacia said in a statement.
The company said the findings of the second committee were based on those of the first Presidential committee that had investigated the export of gold and copper concentrates in May 2017.
Acacia had also disputed those findings.