ACA.L Regulatory News (ACA)

ACACIA MINING PLC - First Quarter 2018 Production Results

PR Newswire

London, April 9

10 April 2018

Acacia Mining plc

(“Acacia”, “Group” or the “Company”)

First Quarter 2018 Production Results

“Acacia continued to demonstrate resilient operating performance and delivered solid production of 120,981 ounces of gold in the first quarter across the Group, which sets us in good stead to deliver against our full year guidance of 435,000-475,000 ounces,” said Peter Geleta, Interim Chief Executive Officer. “All three of our operations delivered in line with their respective mine plans and we were pleased to record an increase in our cash balance to US$107 million, driven by the sale of a non-core royalty that completed in January 2018, which helped to further stabilise our balance sheet.”

Group gold production for the quarter was in line with expectations at 120,981 ounces, a 55% decrease on Q1 2017 (219,620 ounces), primarily driven by the move to reduced operations at Bulyanhulu and to stockpile processing at Buzwagi. Gold ounces sold for the quarter of 116,955 ounces were slightly below gold produced for the quarter as a result of the timing of shipments.

At North Mara, gold production for the quarter of 76,769 ounces was, as expected, 20% lower than Q1 2017’s strong, grade-driven performance of 96,468 ounces. This was primarily due to lower head grade, driven by the underground mine grade of 7.0 grams per tonne being 28% lower than the prior year period as a result of mining taking place in the lower-grade west zone of the Gokona Underground.

At Buzwagi, gold production of 35,685 ounces for Q1 2018 was 41% lower than in Q1 2017 (59,856 ounces) as a result of production now being derived from lower grade ore stockpiles due to the effective completion of the open pit.

At Bulyanhulu, gold production for the quarter amounted to 8,527 ounces, 87% below Q1 2017 (63,346 ounces). During the quarter all production came from the retreatment of tailings as a result of the underground mine being placed on reduced operations in late 2017.

The cash balance as at 31 March 2018 amounted to approximately US$107 million and increased by US$26 million during the quarter, with net cash increasing by US$40 million to approximately US$50 million at period end. During the quarter we repaid a further US$14 million of the CIL debt facility and received US$45 million from the sale of a non-core royalty, announced in December 2017.

Acacia will be releasing its first quarter results at 07:00 BST on 19 April and a conference call will be held for analysts and investors at 08:30 BST on the same day. The access details for the conference call are as follows:

Participant dial in: 020 3936 2999

Password: 88 94 64

ENQUIRIES

For further information, please visit our website: or contact:

Giles Blackham, Head of Investor Relations

Gordon Poole / Nick Hennis

About Acacia Mining plc

Acacia Mining plc (LSE:ACA) is Tanzania’s largest gold miner and one of the largest producers of gold in Africa. We have three mines, all located in north-west Tanzania: Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi, and North Mara and a portfolio of exploration projects in Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali.

Acacia is a UK public company headquartered in London. We are listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange with a secondary listing on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. Barrick Gold Corporation is our majority shareholder. Acacia reports in US dollars and in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union, unless otherwise stated in this announcement.

Disclaimer and forward-looking statements

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of Acacia in any jurisdiction.

This announcement includes “forward-looking statements” that express or imply expectations of future events or results as opposed to historical facts. These statements include, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future production, operations, costs, projects, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates” and other similar expressions.

All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Acacia, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences between the actual results, performance and achievements of Acacia include, but are not limited to, changes or developments in political, economic or business conditions or national or local legislation or regulation in countries in which Acacia conducts - or may in the future conduct - business, industry trends, competition, fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold or certain other commodity prices (such as copper and diesel), currency fluctuations (including the US dollar, South African rand, Kenyan shilling and Tanzanian shilling exchange rates), Acacia’s ability to successfully integrate acquisitions, Acacia’s ability to recover its reserves or develop new reserves, including its ability to convert its resources into reserves and its mineral potential into resources or reserves, and to process its mineral reserves successfully and in a timely manner, Acacia’s ability to complete land acquisitions required to support its mining activities, operational or technical difficulties which may occur in the context of mining activities, delays and technical challenges associated with the completion of projects, risk of trespass, theft and vandalism, changes in Acacia’s business strategy and ongoing implementation of operational reviews, as well as risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development, mining and production and risks and factors affecting the gold mining industry in general.

Although Acacia’s management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, Acacia cannot give assurances that such statements will prove to be correct. Accordingly, investors should not place reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement only reflect information available at the time of preparation. Save as required under the Market Abuse Regulation or otherwise as may be required under applicable law, Acacia explicitly disclaims any obligation or undertaking publicly to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast or estimate and no statement made should be interpreted to mean that Acacia’s profits or earnings per share for any future period will necessarily match or exceed its historical published profits or earnings per share.