Kibali, DRC, 24 September 2013 - The giant Kibali gold project in the
Democratic Republic of Congo today officially poured its first bar of
gold in a ceremony attended by Congolese officials including
representatives from the Provincial Government and various ministries
and the offices of the President and Prime Minister, traditional
leaders as well as executives of the parastatal SOKIMO and the joint
venture partners Randgold Resources and AngloGold Ashanti.
The mine has been brought into production ahead of schedule after a
massive operation which included the resettlement of more than 4000
families to a new model village and the substantial upgrading of the
local infrastructure. The construction process alone has required a
team of more than 7000 people on site at one time.
Randgold is developing and operating the mine, which with a projected
annual production of some 600000ounces of gold, reserves of
11millionounces and resources of 21millionounces will rank as one
of the largest of its kind in Africa. The mine is being developed in
two concurrent phases at an estimated initial cost of USD1.7billion,
starting as an open pit operation, with the underground mine, already
well advanced, scheduled to access ore in 2015.
Speaking at the ceremony, Randgold's general manager operations for
Central and East Africa, Willem Jacobs, said that in line with
Randgold's partnership philosophy, the mine was destined to be an
enormous economic boon to its Congolese stakeholders: the state, which
has a 10% interest in Kibali through SOKIMO, the Province Orientale,
where Kibali is located, and the local community."Over the lifetime of
Kibali, approximately half of its profits will go
to the DRC State in the form of royalties, taxes and dividends. By
next year, it will be providing employment to more than 2500 people on
site, almost all Congolese nationals. More than half of its senior
management are Congolese, while almost 100 Congolese have been trained
as skilled operators at our West African mines. In addition to our
locals-first employment policy, we also give preference to sourcing our
goods and services from local suppliers, which spreads the economic
benefit of our activities even wider," he said.
Randgold's capital projects executive, John Steele, said the successful
development of Kibali was a tribute to Randgold's experienced and
multi-skilled team. "This is the fifth major gold mine we have built
in Africa and the lessons we have learned in the process have proved
invaluable to us in bringing a project of this magnitude into
production ahead of schedule and on budget. The support of the
Congolese authorities and the local community has also been a major
factor.""Important as this day is, it is still only the first step in
achieving
this project's great potential," added Kibali general manager Louis
Watum. "With gold sales set to start next month, our focus is now on
commissioning of the rest of the metallurgical plant and the hydropower
stations as well as progressing the underground development."
Click here for photographs and details
ENQUIRIES:
Mark Bristow Willem Jacobs Kathy du Plessis
Kibali chairman & Randgold GM Randgold investor & media
Randgold Resources CEO operations relations
+447880711386 Central & East +442075577738
Africa randgold@dpapr.com
+243991001222
Graham Shuttleworth Louis Watum Website:
Randgold Financial GM Kibali Goldmine www.randgoldresources.com
Director +243994035464 /
+447797711338 +243817153062
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
Resources Limited ('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 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 Randgold's filings with the US Securities
and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC'). 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-
lookingstatements. 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
