RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED
Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands
Reg. No. 62686
LSE Trading Symbol: RRS
Nasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD
SUSTAINED FOCUS ON ORGANIC GROWTH DELIVERS SUBSTANTIAL RISE IN RESERVES
AND RESOURCES
London, 31 March 2010 - Randgold Resources today reported a 69%
increase in its total mineral resources and a 75% rise in its
attributable mineral reserves for the year to December 2009.
Chief executive Mark Bristow said this significant escalation again
underlined the effectiveness of the company's key strategy of achieving
organic growth through exploration success, and of creating value
through the development of profitable mining projects. He cited the
recent discoveries of Gounkoto and Massawa, and the rapid expansion of
Kibali's resources and reserves since its acquisition late last year,
as major contributors to the increased size and enhanced quality of the
Randgold asset base.
Randgold's annual resource and reserve declaration published as part of
its 2009 annual report today, shows that at the attributable level,
measured, indicated and inferred resources rose from 16.13 million
ounces to 27.33 million ounces over the year. This is mainly
attributable to the delineation of new resources at Gounkoto and the
acquisition of a 45% stake in Kibali. Attributable proved and probable
reserves grew from 8.87 million ounces to 15.56 million ounces, largely
due to the conversion of resources to reserves at Gounkoto and Massawa,
an increase in ownership from 84% to 89% of the Tongon project, and the
sharp rise in Kibali's reserves."When we acquired Kibali in October, its
probable reserves stood at 5.5 million ounces. By the year end, our team
had grown this to 9.3 million ounces, demonstrating our ability to add
value through continued exploration," Bristow said."Excluding Morila, which
is no longer an operating mine, the average grade of our reserves is now
above 4 g/t, and Gounkoto, Massawa and Kibali are all high-grade projects.
We are not only increasing the size but improving the quality of our
assets. It's also worth noting that we haven't used the higher gold price
to boost our reserves - they've been calculated at a conservative US$700
per ounce gold price and a higher cost profile, while the resources have
been estimated at US$1 000 per ounce. This is real growth, framed within
realistic parameters and a viable business plan."
RESOURCE AND RESERVE DECLARATION at 31 December 2009 (abridged)
Tonnes Grade Gold Attribut-
MINE/ able Gold
PROJECT Category (Mt) (g/t) Moz) (Moz)
MINERAL RESOURCES
Kibali 45%
Measured and Indicated 131.49 3.29 13.93 6.27
Inferred 51.06 3.55 5.83 2.62
Loulo 80%
Measured and Indicated 63.10 4.52 9.17 7.33
Inferred 25.47 2.89 2.36 1.89
Gounkoto 80%
Indicated 8.38 7.28 1.96 1.57
Inferred 4.75 6.00 0.92 0.73
Morila 40%
Measured and Indicated 16.76 1.49 0.80 0.32
Inferred 0.95 0.81 0.02 0.01
Tongon 89%
Indicated 38.85 2.89 3.61 3.21
Inferred 11.70 2.59 0.97 0.87
Massawa 83%
Indicated 17.43 4.16 2.33 1.94
Inferred 6.24 3.39 0.68 0.57
TOTAL MEASURED AND INDICATED 276.02 3.58 31.79 20.64
TOTAL INFERRED 100.17 3.35 10.78 6.69
ORE RESERVES
Kibali 80%
Probable 63.80 4.48 9.19 4.14
Loulo 80%
Proven and Probable 49.45 4.42 7.03 5.63
Gounkoto 80%
Probable 7.47 6.83 1.64 1.31
Morila 40%
Proven and Probable 16.76 1.49 0.80 0.32
Tongon 89%
Probable 38.02 2.63 3.22 2.86
Massawa 83%
Probable 10.51 4.62 1.56 1.30
TOTAL PROVEN AND PROBABLE 186.01 3.92 23.45 15.56
Randgold reports its mineral resources and ore reserves in accordance
with the JORC code and are equivalent to National Instrument 43-101.
The reporting of ore reserves is also in accordance with SEC Industry
Guide 7. Ore resources consist of insitu tonnes and grade carried out
at US$1 000/oz optimisations. Ore reserve pit and underground
optimisations are carried out at a gold price of US$700/oz. Dilution
and ore loss are incorporated into the calculation of reserves.
Addition of individual line items may not sum to sub totals because of
the rounding off to two decimal places. Mineral resources are
inclusive of mineral reserves. Loulo mineral resources were calculated
by Mr Chiaka Berthe an officer of the company under the supervision of
Mr Rodney Quick a Qualified Person and officer of the company. Morila
mineral resources were calculated by Mr Adama Kone an officer of the
company under the supervision of Mr Rodney Quick a Qualified Person and
officer of the company. The Tongon and Massawa mineral resources were
calculated by Mr Babacar Diouf a Qualified Person and officer of the
company. The Kibali mineral resources were calculated by Mr Rick Adams
an independent Qualified Person and director of Cube Consulting Pty
Ltd. The Loulo mineral reserves were calculated by Mr Samuel Baffoe,
Mr Alexander Oduro and Mr Chris Moffat, all officers of Randgold, under
the supervision by Mr Onno ten Brinke a Qualified Person and officer of
the company. Gounkoto, Tongon and Massawa mineral reserves were
calculated by Mr Onno ten Brinke a Qualified Person and officer of the
company. The mineral reserves of Morila were calculated by Mr Stephen
N'dede a Qualified Person and officer of the company. The Kibali open
pit mineral reserves were calculated by Mr Quinton de Klerk, a director
of Cube Consulting Pty Ltd and independent Qualified Person. The
Kibali underground mineral reserves were calculated by Mr Paul Kerr, an
officer of SRK Consulting Perth and an independent Qualified Person.
Randgold posted its annual report for the year ended 31 December 2009
to shareholders today and its Form-20F for the same period will also be
filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC')
today. Once published, both reports will be available on the company's
website at www.randgoldresources.com for viewing and/or downloading.
RANDGOLD ENQUIRIES:
Chief executive Financial director Investor & Media Relations
Dr Mark Bristow Graham Shuttleworth Kathy du Plessis
+44 788 071 1386 +44 1534 735 333 +44 20 7557 7738
+44 779 775 2288 +44 779 614 4438 Email: randgoldresources@dpapr.com
Website: www.randgoldresources.com
ABOUT RANDGOLD:
Randgold Resources is an African focused gold mining and exploration
company with primary listings on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
Major discoveries to date include the Morila deposit in southern Mali,
the Yalea deposit and the Gounkoto deposit, both in western Mali, the
Tongon deposit in the Cote d'Ivoire and the Massawa deposit in eastern
Senegal.
Randgold Resources financed and built the Morila mine which since
October 2000 has produced more than 5.5 million ounces of gold and
distributed more than US$1.5 billion to stakeholders. It also financed
and built the Loulo operation which started as two open pit mines in
November 2005. Since then, an underground mine has been developed at
the Yalea deposit and construction of a second underground operation is
underway at the Gara deposit. First gold production from the company's
new mine being developed at Tongon is scheduled for the fourth quarter
of 2010.
Randgold's current major projects are Gounkoto on the Loulo permit in
Mali, Massawa in Senegal and Kibali in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo. In 2009 the company acquired a 45% interest in the Kibali
project, which now stands at 9.2 million ounces of reserves and is one
of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Africa. Randgold also has
an extensive portfolio of organic growth prospects, which is constantly
replenished by intensive exploration programmes in Burkina Faso, Cote
d'Ivoire, DRC, Mali and Senegal.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Except for the
historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this
news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the US
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and applicable Canadian securities
legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, statements with respect to the future price of gold, the estimation
of mineral reserves and resources, the realisation of mineral reserve
estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs
of production, reserve determination and reserve conversion rates.
Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the
use of forward-looking terminology such as 'will', 'plans', 'expects'
or 'does not expect', 'is expected', 'budget', 'scheduled','estimates',
'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates' or 'does not
anticipate', or 'believes', or variations of such words and phrases or
state that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could',
'would','might' or 'will be taken', 'occur' or 'be achieved'. Assumptions
upon which such forward-looking statements are based are in turn based on
factors and events that are not within the control of Randgold and
there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking
statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity,
performance or achievements of Randgold (including Kibali) to be
materially different from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks related
to the integration of Randgold and Moto, risks related to mining
operations, including political risks and instability and risks related
to international operations, actual results of current exploration
activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, changes in project
parameters as plans continue to be refined, as well as those factors
discussed in the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in Randgold's annual
report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2008 which was filed
with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on 15 May
2009, and in the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in Randgold's
prospectus published on 30 November 2009 in relation to the indirect
acquisition of 10 per cent of the issued capital of Kibali Goldmines
SPRL. Although Randgold has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors
that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially
from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should
not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Randgold does
not undertake to update any forward-looking statements herein, except
in accordance with applicable securities laws. CAUTIONARY NOTE TO US
INVESTORS: the SEC permits companies, in their 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 does not 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 our
resources will ever be converted into reserves which qualify as 'proven
and probable 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 Exchange
END
Contact Information: Contacts: RNS Customer Services 0044-207797-4400 http://www.rns.com