RANDGOLD Resources said production guidance of 1.35 million ounces to 1.30 million oz would be unaffected by a flare up of industrial action at its Tongon mine which the group described in a statement today as “intermittant”.
However, Tongon was lagging its production forecast of about 290,000 oz for the 2018 financial year. The mine, situated in Ivory Coast, was out of action about a year ago for five days following an illegal sit-in by employees related to demand for ex-gratia payments. The reason for today’s industrial action was not disclosed.
The group said its sub-contractor on the mine was negotiating with the workforce in an attempt to resolve the dispute. Tongon management and Randgold executives were also in consultation with the country’s mines minister, senior government and local officials.
In the interim, Tongon is processing run-of-mine and stockpiled material. The mine was “… expected to get back to full capacity and the challenge was going to be recovering the lost production,” said Mark Bristow, CEO of Randgold Resources.
“The mine has taken the opportunity to upgrade the second mill motor and mill discharge grate system which is expected to ensure higher and more consistent throughput, that would help to recover some of the lost production,” the company said. Shares in Randgold were down marginally by 0.88% in London valuing the company at £5.58bn.
