Randgold inks Cote d’Ivoire exploration JV with Newcrest

Mark Bristow, CEO, Barrick Gold

RANDGOLD Resources and Newcrest Mining are to jointly explore for gold in “an areas of interest” in Côte d’Ivoire, the UK-based gold exploration and production said in an announcement today.

The two firms signed a heads of agreement that is something as a feather in the cap of Randgold because it will be the operator of any exploration discovery or mine established by the joint venture – recognition of its strong development track-record in Africa.

A technical committee of senior geologists from both companies will work closely with the Randgold exploration team, and a joint venture board will oversee the exploration programme and any consequent development projects, it said.

“The bigger the footprint, the greater the opportunity, and both Newcrest and Randgold believe in Côte d’Ivoire and the potential for the discovery of truly world class gold deposits,” said Mark Bristow, CEO of Randgold Resources.

The area that Randgold Resources and Newcrest Mining will explore covers the extension of some of the more prolific Ghanaian gold belts and associated structures.

Newcrest chief development officer, Michael Nossal, said Randgold had “… proven its ability to successfully explore and operate in Africa over many years.

“Combining this with our own experienced West African exploration team to apply the best thinking from each group will provide a strong competitive edge in what we consider to be a prospective part of the country”.

Newcrest operates mainly in the Australasian area and is a joint venture partner with Harmony Gold in the development of the Wafi-Golpu deposit in Papua New Guinea. It has an exploration footprint in Côte d’Ivoire, and operates the Bonikro mine which produced 137,696 oz in the financial year ended June 30.

As for Randgold, Bristow has been vocal on the chronic under-investment in exploration following balance sheet burnout among the world’s gold majors amid the heavy decline in the gold price from around 2013/14.

He said Côte d’Ivoire was the jurisdiction where the company’s best exploration targets lay including the Gbongogo target which consists of a 400 metre strike more than 100 metres wide. The grade of the prospect was between 1.5 and 2.0g/t at surface.

“It is rather reminiscent of Morila in its early days,” he said of Gbongogo referencing one of Randgold’s most successful gold exploration discoveries in Mali. “We know there is a big system there, but we now need to determine its geometry.”

The company also has its eye on satellite projects near Tongon, its operating mine in Côte d’Ivoire as it chases down a medium-term production target of as much as 1.7 million oz/year in gold.

“What we are saying is that we should be able to deliver one new project out of west Africa and another from the north-eastern DRC in the next five years,” said Bristow in an interview with Miningmx on November 3. “I’m happy we’re back to that type of strategy. This will be new ounces,” he said.

Including 600,000 oz from Loulo [Mali], some 300,000 oz of attributable production from Kibali [Democratic Republic of Congo], and 300,000 oz from Tongon, Randgold has a current base of some 1.2 million ounces.

“Perfect targets for us are three million oz of mineable production which is about 250,000 to 300,000 oz a year,” said Bristow. If developed these projects would take Randgold output to 1.7 million oz at the upper end of aspirations.