ACA.L Regulatory News (ACA)

ACACIA MINING PLC - Second Quarter 2019 Production Results

PR Newswire

London, July 7

8 July 2019

Acacia Mining plc

(“Acacia”, “Group” or the “Company”)

Second Quarter 2019 Production Results

Q2 Production Rebounds Sharply with Record Monthly Production at North Mara Achieved in June

“I am pleased to announce that Acacia achieved a 51% increase in production in the second quarter of 2019 compared to Q1 2019, following the successful implementation of our revised mining plan at North Mara for both the underground and open pit mines which saw production at the mine increase by 80% over the period. Overall we achieved gold production of 158,774 ounces in Q2 2019 with a particularly strong quarter from North Mara, which set a monthly production record of 47,849 ounces for the month of June. We remain confident of achieving production within our guidance of 500,000 to 550,000 ounces for the year. I would like to thank our people who have made this possible, delivering a strong second quarter across all three of our mines despite the continued challenging operating environment,” said Peter Geleta, Interim Chief Executive Officer.

Gold production of 158,774 ounces for the quarter was 19% higher than the prior year period mainly due to 39% higher production at North Mara, offset by expected reductions in production at Buzwagi and Bulyanhulu. Gold ounces sold for the quarter of 143,325 ounces were 10% below production due to the timing of our gold shipments from North Mara which were weighted towards the end of June.

At North Mara, after successfully addressing the unanticipated production issues experienced in Q1 2019, gold production for Q2 2019 rose sharply to 119,113 ounces, 39% higher than the prior year of 85,920 ounces. This improvement was driven by the mining of higher grade areas at the Gokona underground mine as well as increased volumes at higher grades from the Nyambirama open pit mine, combined with a 4.0% improvement in throughput and a 1.7% improvement in plant recovery rates. North Mara achieved a head grade of 5.4 g/t in Q2 2019 compared to 4.1 g/t in Q2 2018 and 3.0 g/t in Q1 2019. Notably Q2 2019 production was 80% above Q1 2019 production of 66,324 ounces, with Q1 2019 having been negatively impacted by the fall of ground at the Gokona underground mine and an excavator breakdown in the Nyambirama open pit.

Significantly, during the quarter the Gokona underground mine commenced ore development in the high grade GB2 area, which is the faulted offset continuation of the high grade Golden Banana zone that has been mined since 2015. Ounces from ore development and the first stope were extracted in June, which produced approximately 20,000 ounces of contained gold at a grade of 27.5 g/t. Further stoping in GB2 is scheduled in Q3 2019 and is expected to support the current higher production volumes.

Buzwagi gold production of 30,283 ounces for the quarter, although 19% lower than the prior year of 37,415 ounces was in line with expectations and 6% higher than Q1 2019 production of 28,577 ounces.

Bulyanhulu produced 9,377 gold ounces for the quarter which was in line with expectations, although 10% lower than the prior year of 10,443 ounces and 6% lower than Q1 2019 production of 9,999 ounces. Q2 2019 production was impacted by the expected lower grades recovered from the retreatment of tailings and the resultant lower recovery rates, partly offset by improvements in plant throughput. All production continued to be produced 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 30 June 2019 amounted to approximately US$125 million, representing an increase in net cash of approximately US$27 million during the quarter, primarily resulting from the higher production.

Acacia will be releasing its 2019 second quarter results at 07:00 BST on 7 August 2019 and a presentation, webcast and conference call will be held for analysts and investors at 12.00 BST on the same day.

The webcast link is: https://www.investis-live.com/acacia-mining/5d11ea4a9add6d110076a035/vnvn

The access details for the conference call are as follows:

United Kingdom (Local): 020 3936 2999

All other locations: +44 20 3936 2999

Participant Access Code: 039709

A replay of the call will be available for 7 days

United Kingdom: 020 3936 3001

All other locations: +44 20 3936 3001

Replay code: 087907

ENQUIRIES

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

Acacia Mining plc +44 (0) 207 129 7150

Sally Marshak, Head of Investor Relations and Communications +44 (0)75 2580 7953

Camarco +44 (0) 20 3757 4980

Gordon Poole / Nick Hennis

About Acacia Mining plc

Acacia Mining plc (LSE:ACA) is the UK holding company of the Acacia Group, Tanzania’s largest gold miner and one of the largest producers of gold in Africa. The Acacia Group has three mines, all located in north-west Tanzania: Bulyanhulu, which is owned and operated by Bulyanhulu Gold Mine Limited, Buzwagi, which is owned and operated by Pangea Minerals Limited and North Mara, which is owned and operated by North Mara Gold Mine Limited.

The Acacia Group also has 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 report includes “forward-looking statements” that express or imply expectations of future events or results. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include, without limitation, 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 in this report. 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 including, the on-going 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 report.

Any forward-looking statements in this report only reflect information available at the time of preparation. Save as required under the Market Abuse Regulation or otherwise under applicable law, Acacia explicitly disclaims any obligation or undertaking publicly to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this report, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing in this report 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 the historical published profits or earnings per share of Acacia.