The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Randgold Resources said on Tuesday it would mediate in a tax dispute between Tanzania and Barrick's Acacia Mining. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe quotes Randgold chief executive officer Mark Bristow as saying that Barrick could dispose of its Zambian copper mine after Rangold's merger with Barrick. In Tanzania, the government has accused Acacia of tax evasion, and has slapped it with a $190-billion (U.S.) tax charge and banned any exports of unprocessed gold. Acacia denies any wrongdoing. Barrick shareholders voted on Monday to approve the $6.1-billion (U.S.) all-stock acquisition of Randgold to create the world's largest gold-mining company. Randgold shareholders vote on Wednesday. "The [merger] transaction legally closes at the end of the year," Mr. Bristow said, adding that even before the merger is completed, Randgold "would look to participate as an interested mediator in the interim" in the row between Acacia and Tanzania's government. "The situation is pretty desperate," he told Reuters. Mr. Bristow, who will be president and chief executive officer of the merged firm, did not give specifics about what that mediation would involve.