BAMAKO, MALI--(Marketwire - July 30, 2010) -
RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED
Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands
Reg. No. 62686
LSE Trading Symbol: RRS
Nasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD
Randgold Resources' recent discovery of a world-class gold deposit at Gounkoto in western Mali confirms the region's potential for further finds of this size, chief executive Mark Bristow told a media briefing here today.
Gounkoto is located 25 kilometres south of Randgold's Loulo complex, currently being expanded into a megamine with two open-pit and two underground operations. The feasibility study on Gounkoto is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, and Bristow said at this advanced stage all indications pointed to a substantial high-grade orebody with relatively simple metallurgy, capable of being converted into a low-cost, long-life open pit and underground mine.
"We have always said that this region had the prospectivity to become one of Africa's key gold addresses and Gounkoto -- along with the continuing expansion of Loulo itself and the discovery of other prospects such as Massawa, which is across the border in Senegal but part of the same structure -- has confirmed this belief," Bristow said.
"Mali still holds enormous potential for further gold discoveries for those who are bold enough to invest in the region. It is with this in mind that we have built a substantial infrastructure at Loulo, capable of serving as a hub for a growing gold mining industry around it."
Bristow noted that since its establishment 15 years ago Randgold Resources had been built into a substantial African business which had attracted investment from the world's primary capital markets into the development of Africa's mineral resources. The company also owns the Morila mine in Mali and is currently commissioning a new mine at Tongon in the Côte d'Ivoire. It also has a 45% stake in the Kibali project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa's largest undeveloped gold deposits.
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Contact Information:
ENQUIRIES:
Chief executive
Mark Bristow
+223 6675 0122 / +44 788 071 1386
Group GM West Africa
Mahamadou Samaké
+223 6675 6136
Investor & media relations
Kathy du Plessis
+44 20 7557 7738
Website: www.randgoldresources.com