RANDGOLD RESOURCES LIMITED
Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands
Reg. No. 62686
LSE Trading Symbol: RRS
Nasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD
("Randgold Resources")
RANDGOLD RESOURCES CONTINUES ORGANIC GROWTH IN RESERVES AND RESOURCES
London, 2 April 2009 - Randgold Resources' latest resource and
reserve declaration, published today as part of its 2008 annual
report, shows a significant increase year on year in both asset classes
through the conversion of Tongon resources into reserves, and the entry
of Massawa into the resource category.
At the attributable level, measured, indicated and inferred resources
rose from 13.50 million ounces at the end of 2007 to 16.13 million
ounces - an increase of 20%. The increases in resources are mainly
attributable to the delineation of 3.39 million ounce inferred resource
at its 83% owned Massawa project in Senegal.
Attributable proved and probable reserves registered a rise of 14% from
7.78 million ounces to 8.87 million ounces, net of depletion of some
380 000 ounces during the year. The increase is primarily related to
the conversion of resources to reserves at the Tongon project in Cote
d'Ivoire where total probable reserves expanded to +3 million ounces
and Randgold Resources' shareholding in the project increased from
76.5% to 84% during the year. It also reflects an improvement from
4.23 g/t to 4.42 g/t in the proved and probable reserve grade at Loulo,
due to the depletion of lower grade in pit reserves and better grade
delineation of the underground reserve."The strong conversion at Tongon,
where we have taken 3.11 million
ounces of inferred resources in 2006 to 3.16 million ounces
of probable reserve in 2008, epitomises our dedication to rapidly
moving projects from early discovery to reserve declaration. The same
is planned for Massawa, where we intend to move the project to
prefeasibility by the end of 2009, and feasibility by end of 2010. The
continuing growth in the company's reserves and resources provides a
solid foundation to beat our forecast of a 50% growth in production by
2011 and beyond," chief executive Mark Bristow said."It is worth noting
that the expansion and enhancement of our asset
base were entirely generated by exploration and conversion, in line
with our commitment to value creation. We used a USUSD650/oz gold
price together with a higher cost profile for our calculations, so this
is real growth and not the result of a revaluation on a higher gold
price."
RESOURCE AND RESERVE DECLARATION at 31 December 2008 (abridged)
Tonnes Grade Gold
(Mt) (g/t) (Moz) Attributable
MINE/PROJECT Category 2008 2008 2008 Gold (Moz)
MINERAL RESOURCES
Loulo 80%
Measured and Indicated 62.69 4.55 9.18 7.34
Inferred 24.23 2.86 2.23 1.78
Morila 40%
Measured and Indicated 20.64 1.75 1.16 0.46
Inferred - - - -
Tongon 84%
Indicated 38.18 2.89 3.55 2.98
Inferred 10.30 2.65 0.88 0.74
Massawa 83%
Inferred 36.76 2.87 3.39 2.82
Total Measured and 121.51 3.56 13.89 10.79
Indicated
Total Inferred 71.30 2.84 6.50 5.34
ORE RESERVES
Loulo 80%
Proved and Probable 50.59 4.42 7.20 5.76
Morila 40%
Proved and Probable 20.62 1.72 1.14 0.46
Tongon 84%
Probable 38.25 2.57 3.16 2.66
Total Proved and Probable 109.46 3.27 11.51 8.87
Randgold Resources reports its Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in
accordance with the JORC code. The reporting of Ore Reserves is also
in accordance with Industry Guide 7. Ore Resources consist of insitu
tonnes and grade carried out at USUSD850/oz optimisations. Ore Reserve
pit and underground optimisations are carried out at a gold price of
USUSD650/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.
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
DISCLAIMER: Statements made in this document with respect to Randgold
Resources' current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other
statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements
about the future performance of Randgold Resources. These statements
are based on management's assumptions and beliefs in light of the
information currently available to it. Randgold Resources cautions you
that a number of important risks and uncertainties could cause actual
results to differ materially from those discussed in the
forward-looking statements, and therefore you should not place undue
reliance on them. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among
others, risks associated with: fluctuations in the market price of
gold, gold production at Morila and Loulo, the development of Loulo and
estimates of resources, reserves and mine life. For a discussion on
such risk factors refer to the annual report on Form 20-F for the year
ended 31 December 2007 which was filed with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC') on 25 June 2008 and
other filings made with the SEC. Randgold Resources sees no obligation
to update information in this release. 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