Quarterly Report 31 December 2006
LSE: RRS NASDAQ: GOLD

Quarterly Report 31 December 2006

NON-GAAP MEASURES

Total cash costs and cash cost per ounce are non-GAAP measures. Total cash costs and total cash costs per ounce are calculated using guidance issued by the Gold Institute. The Gold Institute was a non profit industry association comprised of leading gold producers, refiners, bullion suppliers and manufacturers. This institute has now been incorporated into the National Mining Association. The guidance was first issued in 1996 and revised in November 1999. Total cash costs, as defined in the Gold Institute's guidance, include mine production, transport and refinery costs, general and administrative costs, movement in production inventories and ore stockpiles, transfers to and from deferred stripping where relevant, and royalties. Under the company's revised accounting policies, there are no transfers to and from deferred stripping.

Total cash costs per ounce are calculated by dividing total cash costs, as determined using the Gold Institute guidance, by gold ounces produced for the periods presented. Total cash costs and total cash costs per ounce are calculated on a consistent basis for the periods presented. Total cash costs and total cash costs per ounce should not be considered by investors as an alternative to operating profit or net profit attributable to shareholders, as an alternative to other IFRS or US GAAP measures or an indicator of our performance. The data does not have a meaning prescribed by IFRS or US GAAP and therefore amounts presented may not be comparable to data presented by gold producers who do not follow the guidance provided by the Gold Institute. In particular depreciation, amortisation and share-based payments would be included in a measure of total costs of producing gold under IFRS and US GAAP, but are not included in total cash costs under the guidance provided by the Gold Institute. Furthermore, while the Gold Institute has provided a definition for the calculation of total cash costs and total cash costs per ounce, the calculation of these numbers may vary from company to company and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. However, Randgold Resources believes that total cash costs per ounce are useful indicators to investors and management of a mining company's performance as it provides an indication of a company's profitability and efficiency, the trends in cash costs as the company's operations mature, and a benchmark of performance to allow for comparison against other companies.

Cash operating costs and cash operating cost per ounce are calculated by deducting royalties from total cash costs. Cash operating costs per ounce are calculated by dividing cash operating costs by gold ounces produced for the periods presented.

Gold sales is a Non-GAAP measure. It represents the sales of gold at spot and the gains/losses on hedge contracts which have been delivered into at the designated maturity date. It excludes gains/losses on hedge contracts which have been rolled forward to match future sales. This adjustment is considered appropriate because no cash is received/paid in respect of these contracts.

Profit from mining activity is calculated by subtracting total cash costs from gold sales revenue for all periods presented.



The following table reconciles total cash costs, profit from mining activity and profit from operations as non-GAAP measures, to the information provided in the income statement, determined in accordance with IFRS, for each of the periods set out below:

 

 

 

Quarter

 

12 months

 

Quarter

Quarter

ended

12 months

ended

 

ended

ended

31 Dec

ended

31 Dec

 

31 Dec

30 Sept

2005

31 Dec

2005

US$000

2006

2006

(Restated)+

2006

(Restated)+

Gold sales on spot

73 777

67 205

60 553

274 907

151 502

Loss on matured hedges

(4 920)

(4 027)

-

(12 190)

-

Gold sales 

68 857

63 178

60 553

262 717

151 502

Mine production costs

29 067

29 673

26 822

115 217

66 612

Movement in production inventory and ore stockpiles

(852)

(3 528)

(3 882)+

(13 373)

(18 744)+

Transfer from deferred stripping

-

-

-+

-

-+

Transport and refinery costs

253

179

162

711

360

Royalties

4 428

4 101

3 994

16 979

10 273

General and administration expenses

5 229

2 079

2 724

13 006

7 438

Total cash costs

38 125

32 504

29 820+

132 540

65 939+

Profit from mining activity

30 732

30 674

30 733+

130 177

85 563+


+  Restated due to change in accounting policy relating to deferred stripping. See note on accounting policies.





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