Barrick Gold hit by Tanzania ban on mineral concentrate

Canada’s Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX), the world’s top bullion producer, has warned that up to 6% of it expected output for 2017 may be severely hit by a ban on mineral concentrate exports affecting its subsidiary Acacia Mining (LON:ACA), in Tanzania. The Toronto-based miner, which holds a 63.9% stake in Acacia, noted that if the subsidiary needed to revise its forecast for the current year, then Barrick would evaluate any necessary adjustments to its own 2017 outlook. Acacia, which spun off from Barrick in 2010, accounts for roughly 10% of the Canadian miner’s 2017 gold production guidance of 5.3-5.6 million ounces. Comments come on the heels of a report published Wednesday that claims Acacia has been under-reporting the amount of metal in its shipments to evade taxes.

The probe's results also led to President John Magufuli firing his mining minister and shutting the board of the mineral audit agency, which he accused of failing to supervise exports properly. Acacia, Tanzania’s largest miner was spun off from Barrick in 2010. The miner has three major gold mines in the country, which also produce copper.