Randgold Resources CEO Mark Bristow
Photo by: Bloomberg
The Kibali gold mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is continuing to deliver performance improvements across the board and is expected to post record results for the quarter ended September 30, Randgold Resources CE Mark Bristow said on Monday.
Speaking at a briefing for local media, he said the mine was operating at or above its designed throughput, recovery and hoisting capacity on the back of the ramp-up in underground production, access to higher-grade underground ore and the optimisation of its automated materials handling system.
“This confirms our mid-year view that Kibali is trending to significantly outperform its full-year production guidance of 730 000 oz.
“During this time, the mine also successfully transitioned from contractor mining underground to owner mining by an all-Kibali and almost entirely Congolese team, and commissioned its third hydropower station, Azambi. It is worth noting that this is the first industrial-size power plant built by Congolese contractors and the expertise they gained in the process augurs well for the development of the country’s engineering sector,” commented Bristow.
He added that, with the mine now operating at full capacity and at steady state, the focus on finding fresh ounces to feed its high production rate had intensified. Randgold's exploration teams were working on the conversion of resources to reserves, as well as on finding new resources.
“With the completion of its seven-year capital investment programme, Kibali is now poised to start returning capital to the investors who funded the development of this large and complex project in a remote part of the DRC,” Bristow said.
Bristow also announced that Kibali had reached an agreement with the DRC Ministry of Finance on the reimbursement of $218-million of outstanding value-added tax. The agreement allows for $40-million to be paid upfront, while the balance will be settled on an offset basis.
In another significant development, the Ministry has agreed to exempt local goods and services purchased by Kibali, from value-added tax.