Barrick’s Tanzania subsidiary Twiga Minerals has resumed exports of gold concentrate after receiving clearance for its first shipments since the lifting of a government ban imposed during a tax dispute with the mining company.
Tanzania said it would lift the ban on January 24 when the two parties signed a deal in which the government took a 16 percent stake in Twiga Minerals - a new joint venture managing Barrick’s three gold mines.
“In terms of its framework agreement with the government, the shipping of some 1,600 containers of concentrate stockpiled from Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi resumed in April and the first $100 million received from the sale has gone to the government,” Barrick said in a statement on Monday.
The more than three-month wait to export the containers has played in Barrick’s favour, given that the price of gold has climbed by about 9 percent since the end of January, with investors buying the precious metal as a safe-haven asset as the coronavirus pandemic spreads.
Barrick also said that 90 percent of outstanding land claims at its North Mara mine have been settled, with payment scheduled to start on Monday.