Randgold Resources Announces Fire at Tongon plant

JERSEY, CHANNEL ISLANDS--(Marketwire - Dec 27, 2012) -

RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED
Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands
Reg. No. 62686
LSE Trading Symbol: RRS
NASDAQ Trading Symbol: GOLD

FIRE AT TONGON PLANT

Randgold Resources said today production at its Tongon gold mine in Cote
d'Ivoire had been impacted by a fire in the mill section.

The fire started on 24 December during a planned shutdown for
repairs to the No 1 mill cyclone feed pipe. The fire then spread
upwards into the No 1 cyclone cluster and moved to the No 2 cyclone
cluster.

The fire has been fully extinguished and no injuries have been reported
but both cyclone clusters, flotation cells and blowers along with
associated infrastructure for both milling circuits suffered damage.

Chief executive Mark Bristow said the full extent of the damage was
still being assessed but the mills themselves have been unaffected and
that the mine had already started to make short term repairs including
temporary relining of the various pieces of equipment whilst sourcing
replacement parts.

Tongon aims to have both milling circuits operational again within ten
days. Both mill classification circuits are expected to be fully
operational within three to four weeks following receipt of the spare
parts which are currently being sourced for air-freighting to the mine.
The flash flotation circuit repairs are dependent on the lead time for
the replacement blowers, which are expected to be evident within the
week.

Bristow said that while Randgold's flagship Loulo complex was on track
to achieve its full year guidance of 500000 ounces and Morila would
comfortably exceed its guidance at 200000 ounces, the fire would
further impact on a difficult year for Tongon and that the revised
annual production for that operation was now expected to be
approximately 208000 ounces. He said a full update would be given
when Randgold reports its Q4 results on 4 February 2013.

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 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 2011 which was filed with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on 31 March 2012.
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.





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