5th Aug 2005 09:00
Randgold Resources Ld05 August 2005 RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED Incorporated in Jersey, Channel IslandsReg. No. 62686LSE Trading Symbol: RRSNasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD TONGON PROJECT READY TO ADVANCE London, 5 August 2005 - In 2002, Randgold Resources completed a prefeasibilitystudy on the Tongon Project in the Cote d'Ivoire which indicated that it had thepotential to meet the company's criteria for investment; the unrest in thecountry has since prevented any other field work being carried out. The prospect of peace has led the company to review the economics of theproject. "While the gold price has increased US$100/oz since the prefeasibilitystudy, substantial increases in diesel, steel and transport have negativelyaffected project economics world-wide," says general manager, exploration andevaluation, Adrian Reynolds. "We reviewed the previous work carried out atTongon going back to the basics of orebody modelling through to final product,applying a fair deal of conservatism. Nevertheless our total resource isslightly larger at a higher grade and a preliminary economic assessment showsthat the project exceeds our company hurdle rates as well as the otherparameters of our strategic filter." Babacar Diouf, valuation assistant, says: "We have designed a 27 000 metredrilling programme costing approximately US$3 million which will bring both thesouthern and northern zones to 50m x 50m drillhole spacing within 12 months ofcommencement. At the same time, we will complete the other aspects of thefeasibility study, with the intention of completing the final feasibility withintwo years of the situation in the country stabilising, after the generalelections which are planned for October this year." Elsewhere in Cote d'Ivoire, the company has maintained three additional permitsin good standing and is reviewing data from several other prospects. Coted'Ivoire remains a significantly underexplored Birimian terrain and allavailable information is being incorporated into the company's generativeGeographic Information System. CONTINUING TO EXPAND THE FOOTPRINT London, 5 August 2005 - Randgold Resources continues to deliver on its promiseto expand its country exposure and project portfolio throughout the major goldbelts of west and east Africa. The company's African footprint has increased toencompass some 11 500km(2) and a portfolio of 141 targets in six countries. Newmodels and ideas, both in Ghana and Burkina Faso, have led to additional permitapplications being submitted, covering 8 500km(2) of prospective greenstonebelt. Eight rigs have been drilling on four projects in two countries to hunt for newounces and the deepest hole ever drilled by Randgold was completed to a downhole depth of 1 111 metres at Yalea on the Loulo project. Deep drilling at bothYalea and Loulo 0 have returned a positive underground development study whichwill add long-term value to the project. Additionally, exploration continues todiscover further Yalea lookalike styles of mineralisation within the permit.Exploration has started on a new project, Sitakili, 21 kilometres east of Loulowhich is a Tabakoto lookalike with mineralised porphyry dykes intruding foldedsediments. In Senegal, the company has built a well-balanced resource triangle with aportfolio of quality targets in the space of two years. To date six of 35targets have been drilled, three of which have dropped off, one is parked andtwo require further drilling. Work continues to advance more targets to thedrill phase. A new model and strategy at Morila are driving the development ofa more aggressive exploration drilling programme to hunt for further hiddenorebodies. While on a recent trip to Tanzania to review the company's permit portfoliowhich overlies Achaean-age rocks, some of the oldest rocks in the world,exploration manager Paul Harbidge and the Tanzanian team took the opportunity totrek up the 2 878 metre Ol Donyo Lengai carbonatite volcano, so active that itcannot be measured in geological time. While the aim of climbing a mountain andconducting exploration are completely different there are similarities in thesuccessful execution of both: A strategy, leadership, teamwork, a plan andrelevant and correctly applied technology. The base of a mountain can be viewedas the base of a resource triangle where risk is lower. As one progresses upthe triangle and mountain it becomes more difficult and the risk increases. RANDGOLD RESOURCES ENQUIRIES: Chief Executive - Dr Mark Bristow +44 779 775 2288Financial Director - Roger Williams +44 791 709 8939Investor & Media Relations - Kathy du Plessis +27 11 728 4701,Cell: +27 (0) 83 266 5847, Email: [email protected]: www.randgoldresources.com 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 potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, risksassociated with: fluctuations in the market price of gold, gold production atMorila, the development of Loulo and estimates of resources, reserves and minelife. For a discussion on such risk factors refer to the annual report on Form20-F for the year ended 31 December 2004 which was filed with the United Statessecurities and exchange commission (The 'SEC') on 29 June 2005. RandgoldResources sees no obligation to update information in this release. Cautionarynote to US investors; the SEC permits companies, in their filings with the SEC,to disclose only proven and probable ore reserves. We use certain terms in thisrelease, such as "resources", that the SEC does not recognise and strictlyprohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors arecautioned not to assume that all or any parts of our resources will ever beconverted into reserves which qualify as 'proven and probable reserves' for thepurposes 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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