UPDATE:African Barrick Gold Eyes Tanzania Listing By Middle Of '11

Anglo-Tanzanian mining company African Barrick Gold PLC (ABG.LN) hopes to complete a secondary listing of its shares on Tanzania's Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange by around the middle of this year, the company's chief executive said Tuesday.

"When we initially spoke [about a listing, we] wanted to be done by around now," Greg Hawkins told Dow Jones Newswires, but the company is still resolving some issues on how to synchronize the requirements of listing shares on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange with the London Stock Exchange.

"We are getting very close" to resolving the issues, he said.

Hawkins said the listing won't result in any capital raising since its a cross-listing, which means investors will have the ability to buy African Barrick Gold's shares on either exchange. The secondary listing is expected to provide more liquidity for the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and will also "give our employees the ability to invest in the company's shares," Hawkins added. About 89% of the company's 4,500 employees are in Tanzania, he said.

Hawkins said that following the secondary listing, it might consider a listing in Johannesburg, put the possibility of listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is still "an open question," he said.

He said a listing on the JSE could potentially allow the company to attract an investor base that is restricted in terms of where it can invest.

Separately, Hawkins said that African Barrick Gold and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG.JO, AU) have worked with the World Gold Council to send a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, regarding the U.S.'s decision to put Tanzania on a list of countries that need to disclose the source of where some key minerals are procured.

The Dodd-Frank financial regulation law requires that U.S.-based companies beginning April 1 ensure the minerals they procure from Congo and nine other adjoining countries aren't from rebel-controlled mines. The legislation is intended to stop illegal mineral dealings from funding the conflict in eastern Congo, which is blamed for the killing of at least 5 million people since the late 1990s.

Tanzania's main port of Dar es Salaam along with Kenya's Mombasa is a key gateway for Congolese conflict minerals leaving the continent, Mike Davis, head of the Conflict Resources team at global advocacy group Global Witness, said previously.

Tanzania has complained to the SEC about the law on grounds that it will put its gold exports at risk.

Hawkins said he supports the goals of the law, but he believes more clarity is needed. "We are a little bit concerned that this could create a negative [impact in terms of investment] for adjoining countries" such as Tanzania, Hawkins said. The law "runs the risk of stigmatizing Tanzania as an investment destination," even though the country is very stable and has been independent for five decades, he said.

"I don't think that's what the Frank-Dodd law wants to do," he added.

-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; 44 20 7842 9328; alex.macdonald@dowjones.com

--Nicholas Bariyo contributed to this article.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Dec 2024 to Jan 2025