By Mamidipudi Soumithri
(Reuters) - Acacia Mining Plc (L:ACAA) said on Thursday that 1,050 employees, about 27 percent of its workforce, have either left or would leave the company as it steps responds to lower gold prices.
Just under 700 jobs were being cut at its Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania partly due to the mechanisation of the mine, Chief Executive Brad Gordon said.
The other jobs would go across the group, which has two other mines in Tanazania and offices in locations including South Africa.
Acacia, formerly known as African Barrick Gold , has been attempting to turn its finances around since 2013.
The cuts would save it about $25 million (£16.7 million) per year, prior to a restructuring charge of about $11 million predominantly in 2015, the company said.
The news follows the resignation of the gold miner's chief operating officer last month after a poorer than expected production in the third quarter, and a fall in the price of gold <XAU=> to near 6-year lows.
"The only silver lining of the Q3 underperformance and the gold price going down to $1,050 is that it's really given us the imperative to make these cuts now," Gordon told Reuters.
The company had always planned to make the cuts within a year, but had acted more swiftly, Gordon said. He added that there would be no further job cuts.
"The company is clearly focussing on preserving cash right now, given a gold price around $1,050/ounce and a Q3 that saw a $61 million drop in the cash position, to $226 million," Investec analysts wrote in a note.
Shares in the company were trading flat at 180 pence at 0950 GMT on the London Stock Exchange.