9th Feb 2005 08:00
Randgold Resources Ld09 February 2005 Randgold Resources Limited Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands Reg. No. 62686 LSE Trading Symbol: RRS Nasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD LOULO CONSTRUCTION NOW IN TOP GEAR London, 9 February 2005 (LSE:RRS) (Nasdaq:GOLD) - The construction of RandgoldResources' new Loulo Mine in Mali has moved into top gear with the start ofmining operations at the Loulo 0 pit and the ball mills safely on their way tothe mine via the port of Dakar in Senegal. Mining activity officially started on 24 December 2004 when a CAT 5110Bexcavator unearthed its first bucket of waste material from the virgin ground ofLoulo 0, following a month of clearing and grubbing activities as well astopsoil removal. Initial operations will construct the run-of-mine pad withwaste material from Loulo 0 and in March this year, the operational emphasiswill shift to the Yalea pit where softer oxide ore will be mined and stockpiledahead of the commissioning of the plant in June 2005. Meanwhile in South Africa, the ball mills have embarked on the second leg oftheir journey, departing from Richards Bay harbour on a chartered vessel ontheir way to the port of Dakar in Senegal. This follows the first stage of thisdemanding logistical exercise, where the huge mill shells, ends and feed chuteswere taken by road - often against traffic - to Richards Bay from theDuncanville Works of DCD-Dorbyl Heavy Engineering in Vereeniging nearJohannesburg. Each of the mill shells are being transported in a single piece measuring 5.5metres in diameter and 8.0 metres in length, and weighing some 103 tonnes. FromSenegal they will be transported more than 1 000 kilometres across country byroad to the Loulo mine site. On site, the company has poured approximately 2 500m(3) of concrete to date andcurrently has three tower cranes and four mobile cranes operating. Most of themine infrastructure such as housing and offices has been completed and the minepersonnel have been mobilised. 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 protected] Website: 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 forwardlooking 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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