ACACIA MINING PLC First Quarter 2018 Production Results

 
TIDMACA 
 
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                       [phone] 
 
Giles Blackham, Head of Investor Relations 
 
Camarco                                 [phone] 
 
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. 
 
 
 
END 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 10, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)