Update on 2011/12 Tanzanian Budget

African Barrick Gold plc

Update on 2011/12 Tanzanian Budget

The Tanzanian Minister for Finance presented the 2011/12 Budget to Parliament yesterday in Dodoma. Amongst the range of initiatives and measures put forward, there were several of relevance to our business in Tanzania. Chief amongst these were:

- The proposal of a special escrow account to deal with indirect tax payments from the mining industry in order to facilitate the timely repayment of fuel excise duties. We have been working with the government and the Tanzania Revenue Authority to find a solution to this administrative issue and the new process should improve our working capital management going forward.

- Further measures to address the power shortage in Tanzania through supporting investment in an additional 160MW of generating capacity, as well as a commitment to help secure financing for the state utility TANESCO for the longer term development of the national network.

- Contrary to media reports earlier in the day, no other measures were announced addressing the tax status of mining companies in Tanzania. As previously communicated, the tax treatment of our existing operations is, and will continue to be, that set out in the respective Mineral Development Agreements.

Commenting on these developments, ABG CEO Greg Hawkins commented, "Today's Budget speech is illustrative of the Tanzanian government's ongoing commitment to promoting a balanced investment environment for mining businesses operating here in Tanzania. We have put considerable effort into achieving a workable framework for dealing with the issue of fuel excise duty recovery and it is encouraging to see this articulated in the solution proposed today. This builds on the increased level of governmental engagement we have seen following the recent unfortunate events at North Mara as well as in dealing with the replacement of the SAG mill motor at Buzwagi, which is now installed and fully functional. Although the replacement took slightly longer than first expected with a short-term production loss of around 15,000 ounces we remain confident this will largely be recovered over the balance of the year. ABG continues to focus on optimizing our current operations and further expanding the business in Tanzania. We will be doing this in partnership with the government for the benefit of all our stakeholders."

ENQUIRIES

For further information contact:

African Barrick Gold plc

Greg Hawkins, CEO

Andrew Wray, Head of Corp Devt & IR +44 (0)207 129 7155

Finsbury +44 (0)20 7251 3801

Andrew Mitchell

Charles Chichester

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of ABG in any jurisdiction.

This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" that express or imply expectations of future events or results. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include, without limitation, financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future production, operations, costs, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "plans," "expect," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates" and other similar expressions.

All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of ABG, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences between the actual results, performance and achievements of ABG include, but are not limited to, political, economic and business conditions, industry trends, competition, fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold or certain other commodity prices, changes in regulation, currency fluctuations (including the US dollar, South African rand and Tanzanian shilling exchange rates), ABG's ability to successfully integrate future acquisitions, ABG's ability to recover its reserves or develop new reserves, including its ability to convert its resources into reserves and its mineral potential into resources or reserves, and to timely and successfully process its mineral reserves, risk of trespass, theft and vandalism, changes in its business strategy as well as risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development, mining and production. Although ABG's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, ABG cannot give assurances that such statements will prove to be correct. Accordingly, investors should not place reliance on forward looking statements in this announcement. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement only reflect information available at the time of preparation. Subject to the requirements of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules and the Listing Rules or applicable law, ABG explicitly disclaims any obligation or undertaking publicly to release the result of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this announcement that may occur due to any change in ABG's expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast or estimate.