Engineering & Mining Journal

JUL 2017

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REGIONAL NEWS - AFRICA 20 E&MJ; • JULY 2017 www.e-mj.com Acacia Mining PLC and Tanzania agreed in June to hold talks aimed at resolving a dispute that has been brewing over an export ban, after Barrick Chairman John Thornton met with the country's presi- dent, Dr. John Magufuli. Barrick holds a controlling interest in Acacia (63.9%). "I feel very optimistic that we will reach a resolution, which is a win-win," Thornton said. "We will be sitting down soon with a team designated by the pres- ident and our own team." Tanzania accused Acacia of evad- ing taxes and said an audit showed the miner had 10 times more gold in contain- ers prepared for export than the company declared. Recently, the President's Second Committee investigating the situation presented its findings. On May 24, the President's First Committee looked into the contents of containers of concentrate. Acacia refuted the findings of the First Committee and believed they contain sig- nificant discrepancies compared to the more than 20 years of data available to Acacia. Barrick said it had requested, but not yet received, a full copy of the com- mittee's second report, and an indepen- dent review of the results. Acacia said it was disappointed with the findings of the Second Committee's report, which alleged that Acacia has under-declared revenues and tax payments over a number of years by tens of billions of U.S. dollars. As a result, it made a series of recommendations including the payment of outstanding taxes and royalties, re-negotiation of large-scale Mineral Development Agreements, govern- ment ownership in the mines, and the con- tinuation of the export ban. Acacia strongly refutes these new un- founded accusations. It said it has always conducted its business to the highest standards and operated in full compli- ance with Tanzanian law. Platinum Group Metals Reports on Waterberg DFS Platinum Group Metals Ltd. reported that engineering work is under way to support a definitive feasibility study (DFS) of its Water- berg project on the northern limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex. Included in the work are infill drilling, resource modeling, mine plan optimization and infrastructure engineering. Engineering and design work to reduce and improve underground devel- opment and to optimize project scale and return will also be part of the DFS. Detailed drilling targeting the high- er-grade, thicker portions of the Waterberg deposit is in progress, with the objectives of moving portions of the deposit into the measured resource category and investi- gating the best grade portions for inclusion in early mine planning. License and per- mitting application work is also underway. Work at Waterberg is wholly funded at present by 28.35% joint-venture partner JOGMEC (the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp.) through an exploration earn-in commitment. Important detailed infrastructure planning has commenced for the project, including power line environmental and servitude work by Eskom and detailed hydrogeological work to source ground water. Eskom has progressed electrical power connection planning for a 65-km, 140-MW line to the project. Hydrological work so far has also iden- tified several large-scale water basins that are likely able to provide potable and mine process water for the Waterberg project and local communities. The project team is ex- amining the possibility of assisting with regional infrastructure to source potable water for municipal use while also sourcing and providing mine process water. A nighttime photo of the Bulyanhulu gold mine, which is caught in a dispute between the Tanzanian government and Barrick Gold. Acadia, Tanzania Discussing Export Dispute

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