Randgold Resources’ annual resource and reserve declaration shows attributable measured and indicated resources steady at 21.1 million ounces (oz) while inferred resources are marginally up to 6.7 million oz. Total attributable reserves of 14.6 million oz reflect a 3.5% reduction after mining depletion, with no change in the grade, in a year that delivered record production of 1.2 million oz.
Group general manager of evaluation, Rod Quick, said Randgold’s reserve and resource management was based on the calculation of its life of mine reserves at a gold price of $1,000/oz, coupled with a strong emphasis on the optimal exploitation of the various orebodies by each of the operations.
Randgold Chief Executive Mark Bristow said the fact that the group’s reserve grade remained intact demonstrated that Randgold had not been forced into high-grading by the challenging market conditions. “We’ve been able to steer a steady course through some choppy waters because our long-term strategy takes the cyclical nature of the gold mining industry fully into account,” Bristow said. “By ensuring that our operations are focused on real returns and breakeven cash flows, we have secured a profitable consolidated business plan for at least 10 years at an annual production in excess of 1 million ounces, based on our existing reserves. In the meantime, our exploration teams are hard at work replenishing those reserves as well as hunting for our next big discovery.”
