28th Apr 2008 15:00
Randgold Resources Ld28 April 2008 RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITEDIncorporated in Jersey, Channel IslandsReg. No. 62686LSE Trading Symbol: RRSNasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD RANDGOLD RESOURCES UPS STAKE IN TONGON PROJECT Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 April 2008 - Randgold Resources has increased itsstake in the Tongon project in Cote d'Ivoire from 76% to 81% through theacquisition of 5% of New Mining CI's interest in their joint venture. NMCI nowowns 9% of the project and the government of Cote d'Ivoire holds the remaining10%. Randgold Resources recently announced that it had decided to proceed with thedevelopment of a US$270 million mine at Tongon. Site establishment is alreadyunderway and mine construction will start later this year. The mine isscheduled to produce its first gold towards the end of 2010. The purchase consideration for the NMCI interest is a cash payment of US$2million plus a funding option. Should NMCI elect not to fund its portion of theTongon development, Randgold Resources will provide the funding on its behalf inexchange for a further 3% of the project, such funding to be repaid from theproject's future cash flows. In this event, Randgold Resources' stake in theproject will grow to 84%. As part of the deal, the joint venture agreement, which previously applied toall assets in the Cote d'Ivoire, has been restricted to opportunities found byRandgold Resources or introduced by NMCI. As such, it no longer covers anytransactions Randgold Resources may enter into with third parties. "We're pleased that we've been able to increase our interest in Tongon and inour Ivorian joint venture while retaining NMCI as a partner," chief executiveMark Bristow said at today's Annual General Meeting in Jersey. "We're on recordas being great believers in the future of this country, which is not only highlyprospective but still relatively unexplored, and has one of the bestinfrastructures in this part of the world." ENQUIRIES: Chief Executive Financial Director Investor & Media RelationsDr Mark Bristow Graham Shuttleworth Kathy du Plessis+44 788 071 1386 +44 20 7557 7730 +44 20 7557 7738+44 779 775 2288 +44 779 614 4438 Email: [email protected]: www.randgoldresources.com Registered office: La Motte Chambers, La Motte Street, St Helier, Jersey JE1 1BJ Tel: +44 1534 735 333 DISCLAIMER: Statements made in this document with respect to RandgoldResources' current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statementsthat are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the futureperformance of Randgold Resources. These statements are based on management'sassumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it.Randgold Resources cautions you that a number of important risks anduncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from thosediscussed in the forward-looking statements, and therefore you should not placeundue reliance on them. The potential risks and uncertainties include, amongothers, risks associated with: fluctuations in the market price of gold, goldproduction at Morila and Loulo, the development of Loulo and estimates ofresources, reserves and mine life. For a discussion on such risk factors referto the annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2006 which wasfiled with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on25 June 2007. Randgold Resources sees no obligation to update information inthis release. 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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