Acacia wrote in a press release that Barrick's assessment of its assets (including its North Mara mine, pictured) is not reflective of their true value. Photo courtesy of Acacia Mining

Acacia Mining said Barrick Gold’s acquisition offer to Acacia shareholders does not reflect the value of the company’s assets in Tanzania nor the current gold market and also rejected Barrick’s claim that Acacia management have been the obstacle in the negotiations with the government in Tanzania.

The dispute between Acacia and the government of Tanzania started when the country banned the export of unprocessed metals like gold and copper concentrates back in 2017. In July 2017, the government of Tanzania fined Acacia US$190 billion for allegedly evading taxes by significantly under-declaring the amount of concentrate it was exporting.

At that point, Barrick, which owns just under 70 per cent of Acacia’s shares, stepped in and took over negotiations with the government of Tanzania.