8th Feb 2005 09:30
Randgold Resources Ld08 February 2005 Randgold Resources Limited Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands Reg. No. 62686 LSE Trading Symbol: RRS Nasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD RANDGOLD RESOURCES TO SPEND EXTRA US$7 MILLION ON DRILLING TO EXPAND LOULOPROJECT London, 8 February 2005 - The board of London (RRS) and Nasdaq (GOLD) listedgold miner has voted an additional US$7 million for further drilling at thecompany's new Loulo mine in Mali. This follows encouraging results from theexploration programme for the development study on an underground operation tosupplement the open-pit mine scheduled to produce its first gold in July thisyear. Chief executive Dr Mark Bristow said continuing exploration had already expandedthe Loulo resource to more than 7 million ounces and confirmed the company'sview that it was the best undeveloped gold asset in Africa. "The question nowis, How big can it get? The additional exploration funding will help us toanswer that," he said. Bristow said the ongoing exploration was steadily adding value to Loulo, whichis the company's second mining project after Morila, also in Mali. Deepdrilling is continuing at both the Yalea and Loulo 0 orebodies to complete theunderground development study and to test the down-dip and along-strikeextensions. YALEA DRILLING CONFIRMS HIGHER GRADES Results from a 21-borehole infill programme at Randgold Resources' new LouloMine in Mali have confirmed higher grades at depth and have better outlined achange in the dip of the orebody which is associated which these high grades. "We have been pleasantly surprised by these results," said Adrian Reynolds,general manager exploration and evaluation. "Earlier modelling exercises hadoutlined the presence of payshoots which plunged steeply to the north. However,as we have drilled deeper, we have now identified a very significant payshootwhich appears to have a very shallow plunge to the south which coincides with achange in geometry of the orebody." Results from the programme are being used to furnish SRK Consulting, who areresponsible for the completion of the underground development study, with datarelating to geotechnical, geothermal and geohydrological conditions pertainingto the Yalea orebody and its surrounding country rock. "With the great results at depth, we are starting to widen our scope ofpossibilities for the underground mine," said Reynolds. "Given the indicationsthat the orebodies might well extend to depths beyond 1 000 metres, it lookslike we will need to consider a shaft system in addition to the planned declinesfor the long-term conceptual planning of the mine." SRK Consulting will complete the present underground development study based onall available information as at the end of March this year. In the meantime,the scope of the drilling programme has been expanded and a further 10 000 metreprogramme has been designed to drill to 750 metres below surface. RANDGOLD RESOURCES ENQUIRIES: Chief Executive - Dr Mark Bristow +44 779 775 2288 Financial Director - Roger Williams +44 791 709 8939 Investor & 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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