Acacia Mining

Acacia Mining (formerly African Barrick Gold plc) is a gold mining business operating in Tanzania, with exploration properties in Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was re-acquired by Barrick Gold in September 2019.

History

The business was established as a unit of Barrick Gold when that company started mining in Tanzania in 2000.[2] Barrick's involvement in Tanzania had begun the previous year, when the company purchased the Bulyanhulu property as part of its acquisition of Sutton Resources Ltd. Barrick then acquired Buzwagi and Tulawaka as part of its acquisition of Pangea Goldfields Inc. in 2000. Finally, in 2006, Barrick acquired North Mara, when it took over Placer Dome.[3] The company was floated off by Barrick Gold and first listed on the London Stock Exchange as African Barrick Gold in 2010.

Mining Practices

Acacia Mining was fined $2.4 million in May 2019 for alleged pollution at its North Mara mine in Tanzania. Tanzania's National Environment Management Council issued an environmental protection order relating to pollution from the mine's tailings dam.[13]

Human Rights Violations

Security guards hired by Acacia Mining have shot and killed 22 people at the North Mara gold mine since 2014, and injured 69 others.[14] Tanzanian human rights groups estimate as many as 300 mine-related civilian deaths since the mine's opening in 1999. Acacia included only 17 civilian deaths at North Mara in their annual report in 2014, and six civilian deaths in the 2016 report. No Acacia security guards have been killed on duty.[15] The Financial Times reported, “In 2015, without admitting liability, Acacia settled out of court for an undisclosed sum after a case was brought against it in the London High Court following an incident in which six people were allegedly killed by police hired by Acacia. The company admits to providing per diem expenses for the police at its mine”.[15] The International Council of Jurists said, after a September 2017 visit to the North Mara mine, that they were “deeply concerned about the gravity of many of [the] allegations and the difficulties [victims] experienced in accessing any adequate remedy and reparation”.[16]

Multiple women claim to have been raped at the North Mara gold mine.[17] In July 2018, a 9-year-old girl was crushed and killed by a mine vehicle driven by the police as the driver took a short-cut. Afterward, four women who came to sit by the girl's body were injured by teargas canisters as the police sought to disperse the crowd.[18] In June 2019, Acacia's grievance process at the North Mara mine was found to not comply with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the international standard for corporations.[19]

Corruption

Beginning in 2013, Acacia Mining reportedly bribed Tanzanian government officials, Adam Yusuf and Jerry Minja, and others responsible for valuing land near the North Mara gold mine that it wanted to buy. The alleged bribes totaled more than $400,000.00 and were paid in cash. Jerry Minja, a district land officer who received cash payment, stated that his agreement prevents him from commenting on the details of the arrangement.[20] The Wall Street Journal reported that the original whistleblower intended to report the payments to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act units of the United States Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Tanzanian authorities charged three affiliates with conspiracy, organized crime, forgery, money laundering and corruption.[21] The Wall Street Journal reported in 2018 that the British Serious Fraud Office had opened an investigation in Tanzania, despite insistence that the payments were legal.[22]

Tax Evasion

In 2016, a Tanzanian government tribunal ruled that a “sophisticated scheme of tax evasion” was organized in Tanzania[23] and fined Acacia Mining, as reported by Bloomberg, for under-declaring export revenues from the Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines since 2000.[24] John L. Thornton told The Globe and Mail that “Acacia never paid a dime of income tax” to the Tanzanian government.[25][26]

In May 2017, the government of Tanzania accused Acacia Mining of “underreporting its gold exports by a factor of ten”. The investigation revealed that Acacia declared the presence of gold, copper and silver in its mineral sand exports, but did not declare other precious metals. The committee found that the exports included amounts of undeclared sulfur, iron, iridium, titanium and zinc. The report stated that Acacia declared 1.1 tons of gold in a container that actually contained up to 15 tons of gold. The Tanzanian government then imposed a ban on the export of gold and copper concentrates. The accusation and ban halved Acacia's market value.[27]

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression

In 2017, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression reported that journalists in Tanzania had been threatened and persecuted for reporting on Acacia mines.[31]

foundation	2000
location	London, United Kingdom
key people	Kelvin Dushnisky, Chairman Bradley Gordon, CEO
industry	Gold mining
revenue	US$663.8 million (2018)‡R1R‡
operating income	US$108.6 million (2018)‡R1R‡
net income	US$58.9 million (2018)‡R1R‡
homepage	www.acaciamining.com

History

Operations

Bulyanhulu Gold Mine

Buzwagi Gold Mine

North Mara Gold Mine