Tongon issues will impact Randgold's Q4 production

JERSEY, CHANNEL ISLANDS--(Marketwire - Nov 28, 2011) -

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


TONGON ISSUES WILL IMPACT RANDGOLD'S Q4 PRODUCTION

Randgold Resources ('Randgold') today
reported a series of setbacks at its Tongon mine in Cote d'Ivoire which
will have a negative impact on its production for the fourth quarter of
this year.

As anticipated, Q3's difficult operating conditions in the pit, due to
the wet weather and mining through transitional ore, persisted into
Q4. The situation was exacerbated by a number of other factors.
During the week of 21 November, the mine experienced a temporary work
stoppage during the course of negotiating a mine level agreement with
the newly established union. At the same time, the change-over from
diesel-generated power to the Cote d'Ivoire's national grid proved to
be more complex than originally thought and resulted in significant
downtime. Subject to some further synchronisation and operational
coordination, the connection process is now almost complete. Operating
conditions in the pit have also improved considerably with the
cessation of the rainy season.

In an unrelated subsequent event, the mine suffered a major failure of
the barring gear on its No 1 mill last Friday. This caused management
to shut down the No 2 mill as well in the interests of personnel safety
and to protect the mill from a similar failure while advice was sought
from the equipment supplier and consultants. In the meantime, a spare
barring gear was ordered from the company's Loulo complex in Mali under
its group strategic spares plan. It is expected that the No 2 mill
will be restarted by Tuesday once the integrity of its barring gear has
been verified. The No 1 mill has to await the arrival of the spare
gear from Loulo and an inspection by the equipment suppliers and it
could take up to 10 days before it is brought back on line.

Management has acted promptly to remedy these issues and minimise their
impact on production but their compounding effect will have a negative
impact on the mine's Q4 production.

At Loulo, meanwhile, the mine has experienced lower production than
forecast in the quarter as a result of the carryover of the delay in
thein-pit miningsequence at Gounkoto as well as some downtime
associated with the tie-in of the new tailings pipeline and the 3rd
mill expansion programme. However, the recent performance of the Loulo
/Gounkoto complex has shown significant progress towards getting back
in line with its Q4 production forecast.

Against this background, Randgold believes a revision of its 2011
production guidance is warranted. It now expects group production for
the year to drop to a range from 690 000 to 700 000 ounces, which still
represents a significant increase over 2010.

Randgold Resources 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 +44 779 771 1338    Email:  randgoldresources@dpapr.com 


Website:  www.randgoldresources.com 



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 2010 which was filed with the US
Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on 31 March 2011.
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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END