Acacia in talks with Chinese over mines in Tanzania

ACACIA Mining is weighing up selling a stake in its Tanzanian operations, in a move which could see it take a step back from the country as a bitter dispute with its government rages on.

The group said it began looking into the value of the operations after “expressions of potential interest” from Chinese companies.

It said it was currently in early-stage talks with a small number of investors over selling part of its Tanzanian operations.

Acacia currently operates three mines in Tanzania, with reports suggesting it is looking at setting up a 50-50 joint venture, which would then own the mines.

Acacia also has exploration projects in Kenya, Burkino Faso and Mali, though there aren’t producing mines at any of these sites. News of the talks comes just days after Acacia posted an annual loss of $709m (£505m), from a profit of $242m a year earlier.

The heavy loss follows Acacia being hit by an export ban in Tanzania on selling powdered gold concentrate last March, amid allegations that it was under-reporting gold exports.

The ban has affected around 30pc of its output and caused its gold production to drop 7pc last year. Acacia denies the allegations, made by the Tanzanian government, saying that it has invested $4bn in the country over 15 years.

However, the ongoing impasse has taken its toll, resulting in Acacia’s chief executive and chief financial officer stepping down from their roles late last year after they were locked out of government talks. Negotiations have instead been handled by the miner’s majority shareholder Barrick Gold. Although a breakthrough appeared to have been made last October, a final deal between the pair is still elusive.

Acacia said it continued to support talks between Barrick and the government “in seeking to identify a detailed proposal” to present to it.