Friday, 13th May 2005 (2573 views)

Randgold Resources has announced today that construction at its new Loulo mine in Mali has entered its final phase.

The positioning of the two ball mills has been completed today, and Randgold is now entering the final construction lap before commissioning and gold production can begin.

This busy phase will see the conveyor belts connected, and piping and electrical cable installed to link the crushers, mills and tanks in order to complete the circuit.

When construction is completed, the new plus 8 million ounce mine will have an annual production of 200,000 to 220,000 gold ounces through open-pit mining, with the potential to extend the mine through long-term underground operations.

"We are pleased that we have been able to overcome all challenges and are confident that we will continue to deliver in a professional manner," said Jaco Vosloo, project manager at Loulo for main contractors MDM.

"Loulo has been an exciting project to work on and we look forward to its successful completion in the next few months."

Construction at Loulo, which began last December, has been fraught with difficulty, including the logistical challenges of transporting the ball mills from South Africa to Dakar, and from there to the Mali site.

However, Randgold Resources chairperson Phillipe Lietard has now implied that the Loulo mine will be at the heart of a new African gold-mining province as it continues to expand its activities.

 

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