5th May 2005 07:01
Randgold Resources Ld05 May 2005 Randgold Resources LimitedIncorporated in Jersey, Channel IslandsReg. No. 62686LSE Trading Symbol: RRSNasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD RANDGOLD RESOURCES SUSTAINS STRONG PERFORMANCE AS NEW MINE NEARS COMPLETION London, 5 May 2005 (LSE:RRS)(NASDAQ:GOLD) - London and Nasdaq listed gold minerRandgold Resources today reported another robust operating performance, postinga net profit of US$12.1 million for the March quarter. It also said developmentof its new mine at Loulo in Mali - scheduled to pour its first gold in the thirdquarter of this year - was on track, while its East and West African explorationprogrammes continued to generate promising results. Gold production of 167 272 ounces at US$198/oz by its Morila joint venture inMali was slightly ahead of plan on the back of higher grades. Throughput atMorila's recently expanded plant was again constrained by operational andmechanical problems and at 857 000 tonnes for the quarter it was well below thedesign capacity of 350 000 tonnes per month. The company said its seniormanagement was again working with JV partners AngloGold Ashanti to achieve fullproduction consistently. In the meantime, it had been assured by the operatorthat the value of the operation would not be significantly impaired by the earlythroughput of higher than planned grades. At its Loulo project, mining operations started in December in preparation forthe plant commissioning later this year. The first of two ball mills iscurrently being installed and the construction and erection programmes are ontrack. Ongoing exploration has increased the total Loulo resource to more than8 million ounces and a study to determine the feasibility of an undergroundoperation at the mine is scheduled for completion by the end of the Junequarter. Exploration programmes at and around Loulo and Morila as well as inSenegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tanzania were advanced during the quarter withreconnaissance drilling in Senegal and Mali outlining significant targets forfurther follow up. At Loulo, five drill rigs were in operation, testing the orebodies at Yalea andLoulo 0, gathering advanced grade control data and probing other targets in theregion. At Morila, exploration focused on infill drilling around the pit for anupdated resource estimate and mine plan, while additional targets werehighlighted in that region. In Senegal, six targets (from a total of 32) have now been subjected toreconnaissance drilling. The most advanced of these is Sofia, where goldmineralisation has been confirmed over a strike of 3 400 metres. Themineralised zone is up to 44 metres wide with drill hole intercepts from 6metres at 9.5g/t to 44 metres at 2g/t. In Burkina Faso a three-hole reconnaissance diamond drilling programme has beencompleted along a 2 kilometre segment of a 4.5 kilometre mineralised structurein the Kiaka permit and further drilling is planned to explore the untestedlength. In Tanzania, reconnaissance exploration continued in the Mara andMusoma greenstone belts. In Ghana, the Adansi Asaasi joint venture has beenterminated and the focus now is on generative work to identify areas ofinterest. The prefeasibility study on the company's Tongon project in the Cote d'Ivoire isbeing updated ahead of the anticipated resolution of the conflict in thatcountry. The company today also published its annual resources and reserve declaration,which shows a significant increase in attributable resources. These now standat 10.02 million ounces in the measured, indicated and inferred categoriesagainst 7.95 million ounces at the end of 2003. The rise is mainly attributableto the growth of the Loulo resource. Chief executive Dr Mark Bristow said today that the strong operating results forthe first quarter had laid a solid foundation for the year. "We're going allout to get the opencast operation at Loulo into production and to firm up ourgrip on the project's underground potential. The results of the deep drillingat Yalea are very exciting and it increasingly looks like the Loulo project isgoing to grow into a world class mine," he said. "The continued underperformance of the upgraded plant at Morila is frustratingbut we're making a renewed effort with our partners to understand the issuesthere so that they can be addressed properly. We're also maintaining a strongfocus on controlling costs." "As far as our exploration effort is concerned, this remains the engine thatwill drive our future growth through the continued discovery and development ofexceptional value-creation opportunities." 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) 83266 5847, Email: [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 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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