3rd Apr 2006 12:00
Randgold Resources Ld03 April 2006 RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands Reg. No. 62686 LSE Trading Symbol: RRS Nasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD ROBUST BALANCE SHEET COMBINED WITH QUALITY OPERATIONS AND EXPLORATION PROGRAMMEWILL DRIVE RANDGOLD RESOURCES' NEXT GROWTH PHASE London, UK, 3 April 2006 (LSE:RRS)(Nasdaq:GOLD) - A robust balance sheet,backed by an extremely prospective project pipeline and healthy cash flows fromits Morila and Loulo operations, place Randgold Resources in a strong positionto implement its growth plans and pursue new opportunities, chief executive MarkBristow says in the company's 2005 annual report published today. The London and Nasdaq listed gold miner more than doubled its net profit for theyear to US$41 million on the back of a 54% increase in attributable productionto 314 831 ounces, and had cash resources of some US$152 million at theyear-end. Attributable reserves increased by 115% to 5.42 million ounces andattributable resources by 16% to 11.67 million ounces, improving the reserve:resource ratio from 25% to 46% year on year. Bristow says Randgold Resources' short term focus is on completing the plant atits new Loulo mine which started commercial production in November and delivered68 000 ounces of gold for the last quarter of 2005. "The team have done a great job in commissioning the metallurgical plant andbuilding throughput up to over 200 000 tpm. Given the issues relating to thecontractor, MDM, they have had to work hard to get Phase I complete and toensure that Phase II, which involves the hard rock crushing circuit, iscompleted timeously. Since taking back the contract from MDM, the project isnow substantially complete, with the remainder due to be wrapped up in the thirdquarter," Bristow said today. At the same time, Bristow said, the company was pressing ahead with thedevelopment of an underground mine to complement and expand Loulo's existingopen-pit operation. It was also continuing to build the resource base at Loulo,which it had grown to just under 10 million ounces at the year-end despite thedepletion by mining. Drilling is underway on the extensions of both the Loulo 0and Yalea deposits and new targets are being evaluated within a 10 kilometreradius of the plant as well as in the Faraba region to the south of the lease. Randgold Resources is planning to advance the feasibility study towards adevelopment decision on its three million ounce Tongon project in the Coted'Ivoire, while its exploration teams are finding and evaluating targets in sixAfrican countries. The company's portfolio currently holds 159 quality targetsand its land position covers a total area of more than 20 000 km(2) in the mostprospective gold belts of West and East Africa. "While Randgold Resources is primarily committed to organic growth, we haveshown in the past that we are not averse to the right kind of corporatetransaction, and we shall continue to consider acquisition, merger and jointventure possibilities in Africa and elsewhere," Bristow says. Also in the annual report, chairman Philippe Lietard says 2006 is expected to beanother good year for Randgold Resources, with the Morila joint venturecontinuing to be a healthy cash generator and Loulo weighing in with asubstantial contribution. "The Morila deposit was found by the Randgold Resources exploration team and thefact that this mine has to date produced more than three million ounces of goldand paid out some US$430 million to its shareholders shows the soundness of thecompany's creed that value is created by discovery and development. It is inpursuit of this belief that it has maintained an intensive exploration programmethroughout its existence, at a time when the industry generally cut back onexploration," says Lietard. RANDGOLD RESOURCES ENQUIRIES:Chief Executive Financial Director Investor & Media RelationsDr Mark Bristow Roger Williams Kathy du Plessis+44 779 775 2288 +44 791 709 8939 +27 11 728 4701 +27 82 800 4293 +27 83 308 9989 Fax: +27 11 728 2547* +223 675 0122 +223 675 0109 Cell: +27 (0) 83 266 5847 Email: [email protected] Website: www.randgoldresources.com The annual report has been mailed to shareholders and is now available forviewing or downloading from our website at www.randgoldresources.com. If youwish to receive by post a hard copy of the report or a CD containing the report,please e-mail or fax* your request to Kathy du Plessis at [email protected] with your details. DISCLAIMER: Statements made in this document with respect to Randgold Resources'current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that arenot historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performanceof Randgold Resources. These statements are based on management's assumptionsand beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. RandgoldResources cautions you that a number of important risks and uncertainties couldcause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in theforward-looking statements, and therefore you should not place undue reliance onthem. The 2005 annual report notes that the financial statements do not reflectany provisions or other adjustments that might arise from the claims and legalprocess initiated by Loulo against MDM and a purported counterclaim by MDM.Other potential risks and uncertainties include risks associated with:fluctuations in the market price of gold, gold production at Morila, thedevelopment of Loulo and estimates of resources, reserves and mine life. For adiscussion on such other risk factors refer to the annual report on Form 20-Ffor the year ended 31 December 2004 which was filed in amended form with theUnited States Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on 27 October 2005. Randgold Resources assumes no obligation to update information in thisrelease. Cautionary note to US investors: the 'SEC' permits companies, intheir filings with the 'SEC', to disclose only proven and probable ore reserves. We use certain terms in this release, such as "resources", that the 'SEC' doesnot recognise and strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the 'SEC'. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any parts of ourresources will ever be converted into reserves which qualify as 'proven andprobable reserves' for the purposes of the SEC's Industry Guide number 7. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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