The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday edition that a lowball proposal by parent Barrick Gold to buy out Acacia Mining PLC is an "appropriate" and "elegant" solution to a two-year dispute that has devastated the relationship between the global miner and one of its African subsidiaries, according to Barrick's chief executive officer. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says that Barrick is not prepared to consider raising its bid at this point, Mark Bristow said Friday. "We're not trying to exploit any particular situation," Mr. Bristow told Bloomberg. "At the end of the day we do believe it's a well-considered, fair and proper proposal that should be taken seriously." Acacia has been at odds with Tanzania since July, 2017, when the state handed the London-listed gold producer a $190-billion (U.S.) tax bill, saying it falsely declared bullion exports. Barrick has led discussions with the government. In an effort to solve the impasse, Mr. Bristow surprised the market earlier in the week with an informal plan to buy out Acacia's minority shareholders at a discount of about 8.5 per cent based on closing prices of both companies on Tuesday. Said one analyst: "They didn't even offer par. It was almost like a slap in the face."