Randgold Reports-Tongon turnaround continues

Randgold Resources

remains committed to working with the government of Cote d'Ivoire to build asustainable mining industry in that country by using its Tongonoperation as a platform from which to find and develop more world-classgold deposits, chief executive Mark Bristow said today.Bristow told a media briefing here that the current crisis in theglobal gold mining industry, prompted by the downturn in the goldprice, was being exacerbated in Cote d'Ivoire by continuing uncertaintyover the country's mining code. Consequently mining companies werewithdrawing from Cote d'Ivoire or delaying or downsizing their projectsthere."Randgold has been in Cote d'Ivoire since the early Nineties and inthat time we have seen the country face and deal with some majorchallenges. The government has already made significant progress inrestabilising the country along with the other parties, and we areconfident that the country will also weather the storm in the goldmarket if together we reinforce the partnership between