When word goes round the market of an event which could have a major effect on your company, it's probably not enough to say you're not aware of such a thing.
African Barrick Gold has been under the cosh all day on talk that Tanzania - where it has four mines - was planning a super tax on mineral earnings, as part of a plan to fund its five year development programme. After a while, the company made a statement:
[African Barrick] is not aware of any such plans and has not been involved in any discussions or consultation in relation to this, either as African Barrick or through the Tanzanian Chamber of Minerals and Energy. All of our current operating mines are subject to Mineral Development Agreements (MDAs), which guarantee tax and fiscal stabilisation for a long-term mining project by reference to the law in force at the effective date of the agreement. These MDAs cannot be amended without our agreement.
Well, there have been plenty of circumstances where governments have seemingly changed the rules without agreement (say, the Democratic Republic of Congo or closer to home, the north sea tax in the latest UK budget). So African Barrick is still leading the FTSE 250 fallers despite its statement, down 36.7p at 413.3p.
