Randgold maintains production guidance after Mali settlement

Gold miner Randgold Resources has welcomed the announcement of a political settlement in Mali which will see the lifting of sanctions against the country by its West African neighbours.

Randgold's Chief Executive Mark Bristow said the announced resolution of the political crisis had strengthened the company's confidence in the political maturity of the West African region and its ability to settle conflict situations without external involvement.

Randgold owns and operates the Loulo/Gounkoto mine complex in Mali and also operates Morila, a joint venture with AngloGold Ashanti. It said the disruptions which followed last month's military coup had not materially affected its gold production in Mali.

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Over the weekend the military junta in Mali announced that it had agreed to reinstate the constitution, which would involve the president of the national assembly acting as head of state and overseeing the appointment of an interim prime minister to manage the country's return to democratic rule. Amadou Toumani Toure has formally resigned as head of state.

The appointment of the interim prime minister will be by consensus and involve civil society and political parties. In return, Mali's ECOWAS neighbours have lifted the sanctions they had imposed and committed to actively support the restoration of stability in Mali.

"Our production guidance for 2012 remains unchanged, although we have not completed our assessment of the impact this situation has had on costs," Bristow revealed. "We will monitor the implementation of the political settlement by the relevant parties, and give the market a full update when we report our first quarter results on May 3rd," he added.

JH