Major international mining group Randgold Resources (LON:RRS, NASDAQ:GOLD) has brought forward the construction of the Kibali project in the Democratic Republic of Congo by six months, to mid-2011. The company believes that Kibali has the potential to become one of the world's largest gold mines.
Kibali’s total probable mineral reserves currently stand at 9.2Moz (million ounces) of gold, with the indicated mineral resource at 13.9Moz and inferred mineral resources at 5.8Moz.
The company has brought forward the start-up due to the “encouraging progress that had been made on the pre-development programmes”. Kibali is a joint venture between Randgold and AngloGold Ashanti (LON:AGD, JSE:ANG, NYSE:AU, ASX:AGG) with 45% interest each, the DRC government holds the remaining 10%.
"With all our basic homework done and the critical pre-development deliverables taking shape, we have now turned our attention to looking at ways to bring the construction schedule forward. Among other things, this means that we can accelerate the involvement of the local community in the development of the project, in line with our partnership philosophy." Randgold chief executive Mark Bristow commented.