22nd Apr 2008 13:00
Randgold Resources Ld22 April 2008 RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITEDIncorporated in Jersey, Channel IslandsReg. No. 62686LSE Trading Symbol: RRSNasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD NEW FOCUS ON MAXIMISING MORILA Bamako, Mali, 22 April 2008 - Randgold Resources, which earlier this yearassumed operational responsibility for the Morila joint venture, is committed toensuring that the balance of the gold mine's life is fully exploited for thebenefit of all stakeholders, chief executive Mark Bristow told members of themedia at a briefing in the Mali capital today. The company is currently completing a thorough evaluation of all aspects of theoperation and this will form the basis of a plan designed to optimise Morila'sremaining resources over the rest of its life. The mine has five years of lifeleft on its current reserves, but exploration aimed at extending the resourcebase is continuing. Bristow noted that since it was commissioned in 2000, Morila has produced almost5 million ounces of gold and delivered more than a billion US dollars in cashprofits. It has made a significant contribution to the Malian economy, not onlyin dividends, taxes and royalties paid to the state, but also in terms of jobcreation, skills development, local procurement and community upliftmentinitiatives. "Although it is now past its prime, Morila is still a prolific gold and profitgenerator, which is forecast to produce approximately 1.4 million ounces of goldover the balance of its currently foreseeable life," Bristow said. "The challenge is threefold: to ensure through careful and attentive managementthat Morila meets its commercial targets; to find further ounces which couldlead to extending the mine's life, if possible; and to prepare for the mine'seventual closure with due regard for all stakeholder and community concerns." RANDGOLD RESOURCES ENQUIRIES: Chief Executive General Manager Mali Investor & Media RelationsDr Mark Bristow Mahamadou Samake Kathy du Plessis+223 675 0122 +223 675 6136 +44 20 7557 7738+44 788 071 1386 Email: [email protected]: www.randgoldresources.com 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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