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:
Acacia Mining plc |
+44 (0) 20 7129 7150 |
Giles Blackham, Investor
Relations
Camarco |
+44 (0) 20 3757 4980 |
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.