Acacia yet to receive formal notice of tailings leak fine from Tanzanian government

North Mara, Tanzania

ACACIA Mining said it had received verbal notice from the Government of Tanzania regarding an Environmental Protection Order (EPO) relating to “historical breaches” at its North Mara mine.

However, the company was yet to be issued with the order or any supporting documents related to the EPO. The historical breaches concern North Mara’s Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) which the mine has been repairing following a leak.

This comes amid media reports that Acacia faces a fine stemming from the EPO. Operations at the mine remain unaffected, the company said in an announcement on May 17.

Two ministers from the government of Tanzanian president, John Magufuli, visited the mine earlier in May in order to inspect the mine seepage area as well as to get an update on Acacia’s plans to build a new TSF at the mine, Acacia said.

“As previously disclosed on 8 March 2019, the mine’s technical team has been working constructively and collaboratively with the GoT [Government of Tanzania] to try to address the GoT’s concerns regarding alleged breaches of various environmental regulations and alleged discharges of a hazardous substance from the mine,” the company said.

“The mine is reaching out to NEMC [National Environmental Management Council] and to the ministers to seek clarification of these media reports and statements, including to request copies of any investigation reports or data upon which the government’s actions are said to be based, and to seek details of any EPO or other statutory order that might have been issued, imposing a fine or requiring the Mine to take further remedial action,” the company said.