Jersey, Channel Islands, Nov. 29, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Randgold Resources Limited Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands Reg. No. 62686 LSE Trading Symbol: RRS Nasdaq Trading Symbol: GOLD
LATEST YALEA DRILL RESULTS UNDERLINE LOULO UNDERGROUND POTENTIAL
Bamako, Mali, 29 November 2004 (LSE:RRS) (NASDAQ:GOLD) -- Results from the ongoing under-ground feasibility drilling at Loulo, where London and Nasdaq listed Randgold Resources is currently developing an open-pit gold mine, continue to confirm the latest geological model for the Yalea deposit and underlined the potential for an underground operation at the mine, the company said today.
Thirteen boreholes of a 20 hole programme have been drilled on the deeper zones of the orebody in the first phase of the SRK-led underground feasibility study to upgrade the resource from the inferred to the indicated category. Results from four of these boreholes have been received and are tabled below. Further results will be reported as they become available.
Borehole From (m) To (m) Intersection True Grade (g/t) ID width (m) Width (m) YDH153 647.00 654.22 7.22 5.00 5.28 YDH161 506.00 524.00 18.00 11.00 12.06 YDH162 290.00 313.36 23.36 23.36 2.29 YDH164 598.83 627.80 28.97 17.00 17.49
General manager exploration and evaluation Adrian Reynolds said that the current drilling programme was designed to improve the delineation of the payshoots and provided more detailed information about the higher-grade areas.
"Results to date show that we have intersected the low grade and high grade zones as modelled, demonstrating that the orebody changes with depth, incorporating a significant increase in grade and thickness which corresponds to a steepening in the dip of the orebody," he said.
Deep drilling is continuing at Yalea as well as the adjacent Loulo 0 deposit and the results are being included with geotechnical, geohydrological and geothermal data in the feasibility study. The maximum depth of intersection is now 640 metres below surface at Yalea and 430 metres below at Loulo 0.
Meanwhile, construction of the Loulo mine is progressing on schedule and first gold production from the open-pit operation is forecast for July 2005.
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, 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 2003, which was filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on 30 June 2004. Randgold Resources assumes no obligation to update information in this release. Cautionary Note to US Investors: The United States Securities Exchange Commission (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 part 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