Acacia to reduces operational activities at Bulyanhulu due to huge budget mismatch

Dar es Salaam. Acacia Mining intends to reduce operational activities at its Bulyanhulu Mine due to a $15 million (about Sh33 billion) mismatch between expenditure and income in a month, the company has said, attributing the situation to a ban on export of gold and copper concentrates.

“The impact of the ban, in addition to the deterioration of the current operating environment, has led to negative cash flow of approximately $15 million per month at the mine and thus has made ordinary course operations at Bulyanhulu unsustainable,” the statement reads.

It states that the programme to reduce operational activity and expenditure at Bulyanhulu seeks to preserve the viability of its business over the longer term.

“This programme will include the preservation of all assets and equipment to enable the mine to resume ordinary course operations should the export ban be lifted and the operating environment stabilized,” the statement reads.

Since the gold/copper concentrate export ban was imposed on 3 March 2017, the company says, the group production has been impacted by approximately 35 per cent of year to date production.

The company has seen a build-up of approximately $265 million of concentrate inventory in Tanzania, based on current prices.