ACA.L Regulatory News (ACA)

ACACIA MINING PLC - Management Changes

PR Newswire

London, November 1

2 November 2017

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

Acacia Mining plc

 (“Acacia” or the “Company” or the “Group”)

Management Changes

Acacia would like to advise the market that Brad Gordon, Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew Wray, Chief Financial Officer, have separately notified the Company of their intention to resign from their positions. Both Brad and Andrew will remain with the Company until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition. Brad will be returning to Australia for family reasons, while Andrew is pursuing an opportunity elsewhere.

Concurrently, the Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Geleta, currently Acacia’s Head of Organisational Effectiveness, as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Jaco Maritz, currently Acacia’s General Manager, Finance, will be appointed Chief Financial Officer. Both appointments will be effective from 1 January 2018.

Peter (54) has 35 years of mining industry experience in both operational and corporate leadership positions, primarily in Africa. Prior to joining Acacia, Peter held senior roles at AngloGold Ashanti (25 years) and Barrick Gold Corporation (“Barrick”). He joined Acacia in May 2012 as Vice President, Organisational Effectiveness. Since then, Peter has been a key member of the Executive Team of Acacia and an integral part of the Company’s turnaround. During his time with Acacia, Peter has also served as General Manager of the Bulyanhulu mine and helped lead the successful restructuring of the business. Peter holds an Executive MBA qualification from the University of Cape Town.

Jaco (42) has been with Acacia and its predecessor companies since 2001 in a range of increasingly senior finance roles covering all aspects of the finance function. He was initially employed by Placer Dome, which was acquired by Barrick in 2006, and was part of Acacia at its inception. In 2013, Jaco spent six months acting as Chief Financial Officer for the business, prior to the appointment of Andrew. Jaco is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.

In addition to assuming the role of Interim CEO, Peter will also replace Brad on the Board of Directors at the end of the year. As a result, the Board will continue to consist of 7 Directors, with 1 Executive Director, 4 independent Non-Executive Directors and 2 Non-Executive Directors.

Commenting on the changes, Kelvin Dushnisky, Chairman of Acacia said, “Brad and Andrew have been instrumental in the operational and financial turnaround of Acacia over the past four years and on behalf of the Board and the Company, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to both of them for their contributions. We wish them all the best for the future. We are equally confident that Peter and Jaco will move seamlessly into their new roles. Peter’s demonstrated leadership skills, combined with his all-around abilities and strong experience across all aspects and all levels of the African mining industry will be an important asset for Acacia. Jaco’s expertise and long history with the company make him the natural successor for Andrew. The Board will continue to provide the management team with our full support as the Company focuses on delivering against our operational targets, which remain unchanged from the Q3 results, while seeking a resolution to the situation in Tanzania.”

ENQUIRIES

For further information, please visit our website: http://www.acaciamining.com/ or contact:

Giles Blackham, Investor Relations

Gordon Poole / Billy Clegg / 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.