Gounkoto boosts Loulo complex

RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITEDIncorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands Reg. No. 62686LSE Trading Symbol: RRSNasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD

GOUNKOTO BOOSTS LOULO COMPLEX AS DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES

Loulo, Mali, 24 January 2012 - A robust contribution from the new Gounkoto mine enhanced the capacity and flexibility of Randgold Resources' Loulo complex to increase gold production in 2011 despite the substantial challenges presented by the development of two underground mines and the plant expansion.

Gounkoto accounted for a significant part of the complex's annual production, giving Loulo the capacity to grow overall output while getting its Yalea underground mine on track and pressing ahead with the Gara underground development. Because it accesses the Loulo infrastructure on a toll basis, Gounkoto is expected to recoup its relatively low capital cost by the end of the first quarter of 2012. This means among other things that the State of Mali, a 20% shareholder, will get the benefit of an early dividend as well as full ownership of its stake.

The Mali government has agreed to split the Loulo mining permit, making Gounkoto a standalone operation. Chief executive Mark Bristow said this was a further instance of the importance of Randgold's philosophy of fostering mutually beneficial partnerships with its host countries.

Bristow also said the Loulo complex represented a textbook illustration of the effectiveness of Randgold's strategy of creating value through discovery and development, as well as of its commitment to building sustainably profitable businesses.

"The complex has grown from an 800 000 ounce resource to a fully integrated, long-life opencast and underground operation, targeting production of 500 000 ounces this year. With 9 million ounces of reserves, significant grades and a huge upside, it will be profitable at any realistically conceivable gold price," he said.

Meanwhile, Gounkoto's contribution has enabled Randgold to implement the drastic remedial measures it promised last year to get the stuttering Yalea underground development on track. A new team led by mining general manager Ted de Villiers, underground manager Mamou Toure and operations manager George Lawrie, has completed a complete redesign of the underground operations, addressed the geotechnical and ventilation issues, upgraded the infrastructure and produced a solid two-year plan to achieve all targets.

"Our aim is to build up the Yalea and Gara underground ore tonnage from the current 100 000tpm to 190 000tpm by the end of the year. Once we've reached steady state in 2013, we'll be able to optimise the development to reduce costs," says de Villiers.

"As we pointed out last year, the comprehensive review of all aspects of Yalea inevitably brought with it some short-term inflexibility which impacted on its 2011 performance, but we're now rapidly catching up through a much-improved development rate and the build-up of the mining reserve. Over at Gara, meanwhile, the lessons we learned at Yalea have helped us to keep this development on track from the start. Gara has already accessed first ore and is well set to achieve its 2012 tonnage target."

Bristow adds that underground mining is clearly going to be an important leg of Randgold's business in future, and at Yalea it is not only establishing a strong Malian team but building a core underground skills base for the company.

"We believe that to operate sustainably in an emerging country one should develop the local people rather than rely on expatriate skills," he said.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the future price of gold, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the realisation of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, reserve determination and reserve conversion rates. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'will', 'plans', 'expects' or 'does not expect', 'is expected', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates' or 'does not anticipate', or 'believes', or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will be taken', 'occur' or 'be achieved'. Assumptions upon which such forward-looking statements are based are in turn based on factors and events that are not within the control of Randgold and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Randgold to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the integration of Randgold and Moto, risks related to mining operations, including political risks and instability and risks related to international operations, actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in Randgold's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2010 which was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on 31 March 2011. Although Randgold has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Randgold does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. CAUTIONARY NOTE 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 this release, such as 'resources', that the SEC does not 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 our resources will ever be converted into reserves which qualify as 'proven and probable reserves' for the purposes of the SEC's Industry Guide number 7.