19th Jan 2016 16:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - Randgold Resources Ltd Tuesday said it has expanded its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo following the success of the Kibali gold mine, which will lead to the miner exceeding its full year production guidance for the mine in 2015.
Randgold said production from Kibali will exceed its 600,000 ounce target in 2015, and said the development of the underground operation at the mine continues to progress ahead of schedule, with the second of its hydropower stations, Ambarau, scheduled for commissioning in the second quarter and work on the third station, Azambi, has started.
To put that into perspective, Randgold produced 885,000 ounces of gold from all of its operations in the first nine months of 2015, and has a target to produce between 1.20 million to 1.26 million ounces of gold in 2015, compared to the 1.14 million ounces produced in 2014 - which would represent between a 5% and 11% year-on-year rise.
That suggests Kibali is set to contribute around half of Randgold's total production for the year, with the remaining production coming from the Loulo, Gounkoto and Morila mines in Mali and the Tongon mine in the Ivory Coast.
Randgold is aiming to deliver the full commissioning of the underground mine at Kibali by 2018.
At the same time, exploration has continued to develop a number of targets, with strong trench results highlighting the potential for near mine oxide ounces at Tete Bakangwe and Sessengue SW, it said.
"While greenfields exploration is an essential part of its long term strategy, brownfields success provides the mine with valuable optionality and the ability to protect its key assets in this low gold price environment," said Randgold.
The success at Kibali has spurred the miner to expand its footprint in the country, following a number of joint venture deals being finalised in the country in the last quarter of 2015. The new joint ventures are Loncor Resources' Ngayu project, Kilo Goldmines' Somituri permits and Devon Resources' permit package.
"Despite the challenging market conditions currently facing the gold mining industry, Randgold continues to invest in its future, in line with its strategy of creating value for all its stakeholders through the discovery of world-class gold deposits and their development into profitable mines," said Chief Executive Mark Bristow.
At Randgold and Kilo's existing joint venture, Isiro, a 10 kilometre target has been identified at Yasua-Yambenda through soil sampling, pitting and trenching, the company said.
"We believe the north-eastern DRC holds a rich potential for such discoveries, and we trust the country's government will partner us in our drive to develop a major gold mining frontier there, among other things by ensuring that the current negotiations about a new mining code result in one that will justify the capital already spent and attract further investment," said Bristow.
Randgold shares were down 1.7% to 4,298.0 pence per share on Tuesday afternoon.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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