Acacia Mining PLC (LON:ACA) has once again defended its mining plans following concerns by its largest shareholder, Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD), over the status of its Tanzanian operations.
The FTSE 250 mining firm said on Monday that it strongly disagreed with a number of matters set out by Barrick regarding its operation in the African country, particularly the Canadian conglomerate’s proposed adjustments to its life of mine plans, which Acacia said were “unclear” as to their justification.
READ: Acacia defends mine plan after Barrick Gold says it needs revising
Acacia also said that Barrick’s proposals appeared to have ignored its portfolio of exploration and development assets.
However, the group continued to believe that a complete acquisition of Acacia by Barrick would be “an attractive solution” for shareholders if the offer price was “fair” and supported by investors.
The dispute over Acacia’s situation in Tanzania originally came to a head last week when Barrick said Acacia’s mine plans were not appropriately risked or supportable and needed revising.
Barrick also said Acacia’s relationship with the Tanzanian government was so damaged that it could no longer function as an independent public company.
The Canadian miner has been negotiating with the Tanzanian government on behalf of Acacia to resolve an ongoing row over unpaid taxes.
Tanzania has accused Acacia of owing billions of dollars in royalties on undeclared exports and has banned the gold miner from exporting gold and copper concentrates since March 2017.
Barrick has made an all-stock offer to buy the 36% of Acacia that it does not already own and believes that the deal is the only credible way to end the dispute.
The Canadian firm now has until July 9 to make a firm offer for Acacia. Last month's proposal valued Acacia at US$787mln, a near 9% discount to its pre-offer closing price.
In late-morning trading on Monday, Acacia’s shares were flat at 182.2p.