Acacia raises gold production target after strong quarter across Tanzanian mines
Acacia mining has increased its full-year gold production target after a strong quarter in Tanzania.
The gold miner raised its full-year target to just over 500,000 ounces from its original 435,000-475,000 ounces guidance after reporting “strong” production in its three mines in Tanzania.
Production at its North Mara mine was up 24 per cent on the third quarter of 2017 to
89,287 ounces.
Read more: Acacia Mining chairman departs for South African rival
Gold production had dropped earlier this year due to an ongoing ban on metal concentrate exports, imposed by the Tanzanian government, forcing the company to scale back operations.
Its mines at Buzwagi and Bulyanhulu were down on last year's production but the performance across all three sites was above management expectations, the company said.
Overall production for the three sites – 136,640 ounces – was down by 29 per cent on the same period last year.
Shares in the London-listed company, majority owned by Canada's Barrick Gold, climbed by 4 per cent earlier today after publishing its production results.
Read more: Acacia Mining's merger talks stall on Tanzania gold ban
Interim chief executive Peter Geleta said: “We are very pleased to report a strong operational performance for the year to date, delivering 391,000 gold ounces in the nine months to the end of September.”
He added that the company expected to “exceed the upper end” of its full year production range and would now be targeting marginally more than 500,000 ounces.