16 November 2016
Report on Payments to Governments for 2015
This Report provides an overview of the payments to governments made by Avocet Mining PLC and its subsidiaries for the year ended 31 December 2015 as required under the UK Reports on Payments to Governments Regulation 2014 and its amendment in December 2015 (the UK Regulations). This Report is also intended to satisfy the requirements of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom.
In accordance with the UK Regulations, this Report includes payments to government made by Avocet Mining PLC and its subsidiary undertakings ("Avocet" or "the Group").
This information is substantially a reproduction of information set out on pages 20-21 of the 2015 Annual Report.
Payments made by Avocet to governments arising from mining and exploration activities are disclosed in this Report.
Payments included in the report include corporation tax on profits, fuel tax, land tax, permit taxes on exploration and mining permits, and royalties on sales of gold and silver.
A number of other important indirect taxes are excluded from this report, including withholding taxes, VAT, and payroll taxes. Further details of these payments can be found in the 2015 Annual Report.
The governments to whom payments listed in this report have been made are those of the Republic of Burkina Faso, and the Republic of Guinea.
Avocet has two relevant projects: the Inata/Bélahouro project in Burkina Faso (which includes the Souma deposit), and the Tri-K project in Guinea. All costs under Burkina Faso are in respect of the Inata/Bélahouro project, while those shown under Guinea are exclusively related to the Tri-K project.
Payments disclosed in this report are shown in US Dollars. Actual payments have been made in West African CFA for Burkina Faso and Guinea Francs for Guinea, however have been translated at average monthly rates.
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US$'000
|
Burkina Faso
|
Guinea
|
Total
|
|
Corporation tax
|
504
|
-
|
504
|
|
Fuel tax
|
1,971
|
-
|
1,971
|
|
Land tax
|
16
|
12
|
28
|
|
Permit tax
|
3
|
276
|
279
|
|
Royalties
|
2,094
|
-
|
2,094
|
|
Total
|
4,588
|
288
|
4,876
|
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
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Avocet Mining PLC
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Bell Pottinger
Financial PR Consultants
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J.P. Morgan Cazenove Corporate Broker
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David Cather, CEO Jim Wynn, FD
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Lorna Cobbett
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Michael Wentworth-Stanley
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+44 20 3709 2570
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+44 (0)20 3772 2555
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+44 20 7742 4000
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or the "Company") is an unhedged gold mining and exploration company listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: AVM.L) and the Oslo Børs (ticker: AVM.OL). The Company's principal activities are gold mining and exploration in West Africa.
In Burkina Faso the Company owns 90% of the Inata Gold Mine. The Inata Gold Mine poured its first gold in December 2009 and produced 74,755 ounces of gold in 2015. Other assets in Burkina Faso include five exploration permits surrounding the Inata Gold Mine in the broader Bélahouro region. The most advanced of these projects is Souma, some 20 kilometers from the Inata Gold Mine.
The Company also holds an interest in the Tri-K project in Guinea. On 10 October 2016, the Company announced that it had agreed to dispose of 40% of the project to Managem, a Moroccan group listed on the Casablanca stock exchange, subject to, inter alia, shareholder approval, and which will increase upon completion of a bankable feasibility study for a CIL plant at the site, the incurring of expenditures of at least US$10 million, and the enlarging of the ore reserve, to 70% (in the event of an increase of the reserve to 1 million ounce or more) or 60% (if less than 1 million ounces).