13th May 2005 08:34
Randgold Resources Ld13 May 2005 Randgold Resources LimitedIncorporated in Jersey, Channel IslandsReg. No. 62686LSE Trading Symbol: RRSNasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD BALL MILLS IN PLACE AS RANDGOLD RESOURCES' NEW MINE REACHES COMMISSIONING PHASE Bamako, Mali, 13 May 2005 (LSE:RRS)(NASDAQ:GOLD) - London and Nasdaq listed goldminer Randgold Resources has announced that construction at its new Loulo minein Mali had entered its final phase with the completion of the positioning ofthe two ball mills today. "The mills are the main items of equipment in the gold processing plant. Nowthat they have been safely positioned on their bearing pedestals, we haveentered the final construction lap before commissioning and gold production,scheduled to start next quarter," said general manager capital projects JohnSteele. "From this point, we have to connect up the conveyor belts, piping andelectrical cable which links the crushers, mills and tanks in order to completethe circuit. This is the busiest period of our construction programme and ourpeak in terms of site manpower too," he said. The new plus 8 million ounce Loulo Gold Mine, is Randgold Resources' second minedevelopment after Morila, also in Mali. The first phase of the project willhave an annual production of 200 000 to 220 000 gold ounces through open-pitmining but the potential exists to extend the mine through long-term undergroundoperations. Deep drilling programmes are in progress to further define theextent of the orebodies and form part of an underground development studycurrently being completed by SRK consulting. Jaco Vosloo, Loulo project manager for main contractors MDM said the Louloproject had presented some logistical challenges thus far, in particular thetransport of the mills from South Africa to Dakar and from there to site inMali. "We are pleased that we have been able to overcome all challenges and areconfident that we will continue to deliver in a professional manner. Loulo hasbeen an exciting project to work on and we look forward to its successfulcompletion in the next few months." Lamine Gueye, managing director of Compagnie Senegalaise de TransportsTransatlantiques Afrique de l'Ouest (CSTTAO) which organised the transport ofthe ball mills from Dakar to the site in Mali, said that the successful deliveryof the mills could only have been accomplished through teamwork. "We had towork together in unpredictable and difficult conditions in order to get thesemills on site and on time," he said. 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 2003, which was filed with the United StatesSecurities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on 30 June 2004. RandgoldResources assumes no obligation to update information in this release.Cautionary Note to US Investors: The SEC permits companies, in their filingswith the SEC, to disclose only proven and probable ore reserves. We use certainterms in this release, such as "resources", that the SEC does not recognise andstrictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors arecautioned not to assume that all or any part 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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