London — Acacia Mining, which is scaling back operations to cut losses and settle a dispute with the Tanzanian government, has spent $3.2m on options to sell 210,000 ounces of its gold output at $1,300/oz. Shares in Acacia, majority-owned by Barrick Gold, have lost almost half their value since the start of 2017 after Tanzania banned concentrate exports in March and then demanded $190m in unpaid taxes in July. By midday in London, gold was trading at about $1,340/oz, close to a one-year high. It has risen from about $1,200 in July. To contain losses, Acacia said on Monday it was reducing operations at its flagship Tanzanian gold mine. On Wednesday, the firm said it had bought options giving it the right to sell its expected doré bar output for the next six months above its budgeted gold price of $1,200/oz. Doré bars are rough gold, an alloy of gold and silver. Gold miners have become wary of hedging since racking up losses unwinding options that prevented them gaining from the 12-ye...
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