Projects and Evaluation

LOULO UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Yalea mine

During the fourth quarter of 2009 a total of 1 434 metres development was completed and 112 439 tonnes of ore at a grade of 4.08g/t was hauled to surface, following a number of operating challenges experienced during the first half of the quarter. However, development rates are now increasing, with December month development of 618 metres and 56 634 ore tonnes representing project records.

The Yalea declines have now been advanced to a distance of 1 443 metres from surface and a vertical depth of 232 metres. During the quarter, management terminated the underground mining contract with the previous contractor and has assumed this responsibility within the company. The change has delivered immediate improvements as evidenced by the record tonnes in December.

During the fourth quarter, the main dam on 038 Level was commissioned and is now pumping directly to surface. The planned ventilation loop has been completed and the new main fan unit installed, resulting in improved underground working conditions. Overall development to date for the underground section is 10 267 metres.

Other significant developments during the quarter included the completion of a 760 millimetre diameter vent holing of 45 metres in length from the bottom of the P125 pit into the roof of 066L stope, the installation of the third underground belt (CV03) whilst 013L is currently being prepared for production.


Gara mine

The Gara underground mine budget and planning for 2010 have been completed. Negotiations are underway with suitable contractors to sink the declines and related developments, which is planned to start during the first half of 2010 with first ore expected by the end of the year. Work on the boxcut is moving ahead steadily and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2010.


LOULO 3 PROJECT

The revised Loulo 3 pit design and schedule have been completed, incorporating the increased mineral resource reported last quarter. A meeting was held with the mining contractor to review the fleet availability and extra equipment to be mobilised in order to meet the increase in volume to be mined from Loulo 3 during the year. Exploration drilling continues to delineate additional strike-length at Loulo 3 and infill RC drilling will be conducted during first quarter of 2010 to add additional resources


TONGON PROJECT

The Tongon mine development has made good progress through the last quarter of 2009. Significantly, the beginning of January 2010 saw the arrival of the first mill on site after a five day trip from the port of San Pedro to Tongon. The second mill is still on schedule to arrive in February 2010. Installation of all 14 CIL tanks has been completed, ahead of schedule. The CIL tank top steel is currently being installed which is expected to progress quickly, as all of the steel components have been assembled on the ground in approximately 10 tonne sections.

The number two primary crusher foundation is nearing completion and will be ready to receive the jaw crusher in February 2010. The thickener and clarifier tanks are currently being erected on their foundations. Steel work construction and installation are making good progress. The Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) construction is currently underway with the clearing of the dam wall foot print almost completed. The tails pipeline corridor and access road are under construction and are expected to be completed by the end of February 2010.The first three, of seven, break bulk shipments of items for the mine have arrived on the mine. The remaining four shipments are scheduled to be on site within the next three months.

Manpower levels have now reached 1 600 personnel onsite, inclusive of contractor employees. The recruitment of expatriates has been kept to a minimum at 7% of the total work force. The strategy has been to first give preference to the employment of local inhabitants, thereafter nationals and lastly expatriates. Local employees currently account for 71.5% of the total employees on site.

The designated contract miner, DTP, has started to mobilise to site. The first of three 9350 Liebherr excavators has arrived at Tongon, to be assembled by the team on site. The first five of 17 CAT 777F trucks has arrived in Abidjan. Other support equipment has also arrived in Abidjan.

DTP is in the process of recruiting 330 personnel, once again following Randgold’s recruitment strategy of locals first, thereafter nationals and then expatriates. DTP is scheduled to move the first open pit ground in March 2010. Prior to this, local contractors are being used to prepare the pit area for mining. In addition, the mineralised overburden is being excavated and stockpiled for first fill and processing through the treatment plant.

Operational management personnel are also starting to mobilise to Tongon site and commence the process of recruiting 350 personnel, in advance of process training, adhering to Randgold’s recruitment strategy highlighted above.

The project remains on budget and completion is still on track for first gold to be poured early in the fourth quarter 2010.


Massawa Project

As part of the completion of the prefeasibility a revised mineral resource is presented below including incorporation of 30 000 metres of infill drilling and delineation of revised geological model.

MASSAWA: MINERAL RESOURCES as at 31 December 2009

* Open pit mineral resources are those insitu mineral resources at 0g/t gold cut-off falling inside the US$1 000/oz pit shell.

** Underground mineral resources are those insitu mineral resources at a 2g/t Au cut-off falling below the US$1 000/oz pit shell.

*** Attributable gold (Moz) refers to the quantity of gold attributable to Randgold based on Randgold’s 83% interest in the Massawa gold project

Pit optimisations based on a US$700/oz gold price followed by pit design and scheduling have produced the following mineral reserves for an open pit option:

MASSAWA: MINERAL RESERVES as at 31 December 2009

* Mineral reserves are calculated at US$700/oz gold price

** Mineral reserves include dilution and ore loss factors

*** Attributable gold (Moz) refers to the quantity attributable to Randgold based on Randgold’s 83% interest in the Massawa gold project.

The prefeasibility was based on the above reserves and a summary of the important aspects of the study are documented below:

Mining: Contractor mining costs of US$2.76 per tonne are based on updated Tongon contractor costs, adjusted for the load profiles at Massawa. Due to the thin nature of the geological model and high gold grades the strip ratios are relatively high at 11.7:1.

Plant: Throughput of 1.8 million tonnes per year is envisaged using three stage crushing, ball milling with gravity, flash flotation and pressure oxidation of concentrate to produce recoveries in the region of 89% with processing costs of US$24 per tonne for sulphide material.

General and administration: US$3.85 per tonne was used based on Loulo actual costs adjusted for lower throughputs.

The mining and production schedule resulted in a six year mine life, producing 1.35Moz.

As part of the prefeasibility, a second study was undertaken, reviewing a broader high tonnage, lower grade geological model. This incorporated the low grade mineralisation surrounding the high grade shears in the Central Zone. This model produced a mineral reserve of 20.84 million tonnes at a grade of 3.16g/t for 2.12Mozwithin a US$700/oz designed open pit. The mining and production schedule for this option recovered 1.9Moz of gold over a nine year period. Due to the higher tonnage, processing rates were increased to 2.4 million tonnes per annum resulting in slightly lower sulphide processing and G&A costs of US$22 per tonne and US$3.50 per tonne respectively.

Financial models were run at a US$800/oz gold price. The capital expenditure estimate for the prefeasibility model was US$237 million with replacement capital of US$18 million. However the longer life, low grade, high tonnage model increased the capital to US$280 million followed by US$30 million for replacement capital, producing the following cost and IRR profiles.

MASSAWA: FINANCIAL ASSESSMENTS

* Prefeasibility model

** Low grade high tonnage model.

*** The fiscal parameters are based on the prevailing Senegalese 2003 Mining Code, which include a 3% royalty.

Based on the positive returns of the higher grade prefeasibility model the board has agreed to progress the project to feasibility. Exploration will now concentrate on evaluating the significant upside potential of the project, both along strike (North and South), down dip and satellites deposits, which will be incorporated into the final feasibility study. Further metallurgical testwork is under way to optimise recoveries and operating costs. Full environmental and social assessment will be completed.


Randgold Qualified Persons

Information regarding data verification, quality assurance programmes, exploration results, exploration information and property information for the Massawa project was completed by Mr Babacar Diouf, an officer of Randgold Resources and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators (‘NI 43-101’). The mineral resource estimate related to the Massawa project, presented in this release was generated by Mr Babacar Diouf and supervised by Mr Rodney Quick, both officer’s of Randgold Resources and Qualified Persons under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators (‘NI 43-101’). The information in this release that relates to open pit reserves was carried out by Mr Onno ten Brinke, an officer of Randgold Resources and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators (‘NI 43-101’). Randgold considers the information to be a material change and as such a new Technical Report for the Massawa Project will be filed within 45 days after the issue of this release and will be available under Randgold’s profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.


GOUNKOTO PROJECT

The Gounkoto project remains on track to complete prefeasibility by the end of the first quarter of 2010. Significant drilling was completed during the quarter and is presently being modelled. The infill drilling has confirmed the continuity of geology, structure and mineralisation over 1.3 kilometre strike and to vertical depths of 250 metres. The mean average intersection grade of 6.5g/t for the project is very encouraging.

Preliminary geotechnical logging and sampling has been completed, with the preliminary slope report expected in February 2010.

Independent metallurgical testwork completed confirmed the high plus 90% recoveries from the sulphide ore are achievable from a simple process of crush, mill and CIL. The hardness and abrasiveness testwork has indicated that the ore is relatively hard but in line with ore treated at the Loulo plant.

Preliminary site selection for TSF and waste dams was conducted together with stream diversion and Falémé flood protection analysis. A field visit was completed where the potential sites were walked. This has resulted in the prioritisation of the best options and sterilisation drill programmes are being planned for the second quarter.

The social and economical baseline study was completed on the affected villages surrounding the deposit. Fieldwork for archeological, as well as flora and fauna specialist studies, have been completed. No fatal flaws have been identified in this work.

Besides completing the updated resources and reserves during the first quarter of 2010, other primary requirements including geotechnical and metallurgical sample drilling, acid generation and leach tests of waste and ore, density testwork, geohydrological drilling and groundwater modelling will be initiated.


KIBALI PROJECT

Mineral Resources and Reserve Update

Following the completion of the Moto acquisition, Randgold moved swiftly to update the mineral resources and reserves by retaining the services of Cube Consulting and SRK Consulting in Perth, complemented with in-house skills, to ensure continuity with regards to the updates.

Following incorporation of all drilling completed between April and August 2009 new resources were reported in the quarter.

KIBALI: MINERAL RESOURCES as at 30 November 2009

* Open pit recoverable resources >0.5g/t gold cut-off inside US$1 000 pit shell and above 5 685mrl.

** Underground resources >2.0g/t gold cut-off below 5 685 mrl.

*** Attributable gold (Moz) refers to the quantity attributable to Randgold based on Randgold’s 45% interest in the Kibali gold project.

Main changes in mineral resources from previous declarations include:

• open pit resources have been classified as the insitu resources falling within the US$1 000/oz whittle pit shell at a 0.5g/t gold cut-off to conform with JORC requirements; and
  
• in the case of the Karagba-Chauffeur-Durba (KCD) deposit, the underground resources are reported as those insitu resources below the pit to underground interface (5 685mrl), reported at a 2g/t gold cut-off.

To ensure mineral resources comply with the criteria laid out by the JORC Code only those mineral resources for which there is a reasonable prospect for eventual economic extraction have been included in the declaration above. The net result is slightly lower total resources than previously reported by Moto, but a significant increase in indicated resources, with 70% of total resources now being classified as indicated. The indicated mineral resource is now 13.93Moz which represents an increase of 23% over the previous indicated mineral resource. 7.67Moz at a grade of 6.08g/t from the KCD deposit is now classified as an underground indicated mineral resource and represents an increase of 118% over the previous declared underground indicated mineral resource.

Cube Consulting completed open pit reserves from the updated resource numbers, while SRK Consulting completed an update of the underground reserves based on US$700 gold price. New reserve numbers are presented below and reflect a significant increase in underground reserves to almost 6Moz, bringing the total reserve number to 9.2Moz, a 67% increase from the previous declaration.

Together with the newly-declared Massawa reserve, group attributable reserves have increased by 60% compared to the end of 2008. As is customary, the group annual reserves and resource declaration will be released in March along with the annual report.

KIBALI: MINERAL RESERVES as at 31 December 2009

* Open pit and underground reserves are carried out at a gold price of US$700/oz.

** Attributable gold (Moz) refers to the quantity attributable to Randgold based on Randgold’s 45% interest in the Kibali gold project.

The main changes to the mineral reserve include the conversion of indicated mineral resources beneath the KCD pit into the underground mineral reserve.


Randgold Qualified Persons

Information regarding data verification, quality assurance programmes, exploration results, exploration information and property information for the Kibali project is documented in the NI43-101 Technical Report on the Kibali gold project in the Democratic Republic of Congo Randgold Resources, dated 27 November 2009 and is currently available under Randgold’s profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. The mineral resource estimate related to the Kibali project, presented in this release was generated by Mr Rick Adams, of Cube Consulting, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators (‘NI 43-101’) and is documented in the Independent NI43-101 Technical Report on the Kibali gold project in the Democratic Republic of Congo Randgold Resources, dated 27 November 2009. The information in this release that relates to open pit reserves was carried out by Mr Quinton de Klerk, a director of Cube Consulting Pty Ltd and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators (‘NI 43-101’) while the underground reserves were generated by Mr Paul Kerr, a senior consultant (Underground Mining) employed by SRK Consulting Pty Ltd and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators (‘NI 43-101’). Randgold considers the information to be a material change and as such a new Technical Report for the Kibali Project will be filed within 45 days after the issue of this release and will be available under Randgold’s profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

 KIBALI MINE: PROJECT SCHEDULE - construction, commissioning and production