Randgold Sees Prosperous Future Ahead With Mali

JERSEY, CHANNEL ISLANDS--(Marketwired - Aug 1, 2013) -

Randgold Resources Ltd.
Incorporated in Jersey, Channel Islands
Reg. No. 62686
LSE Trading Symbol: RRS
NASDAQ Trading Symbol: GOLD
("Randgold Resources", "the company" and "Randgold")


RANDGOLD SEES PROSPEROUS FUTURE AHEAD WITH MALI

Bamako, Mali, 1 August 2013 - Randgold Resources and Mali are
strongly positioned to deal with the downturn in the gold price which
has plunged much of the gold mining industry into crisis, chief
executive Mark Bristow said today.

Speaking at a media briefing here, Bristow said the country and the
company had a long history of a mutually beneficial partnership and
together they had overcome many challenges, not all of them economic.
Through some difficult times, Randgold had retained its belief in Mali
and in the Malian people's ability to solve the country's problems and
this confidence had once again been vindicated by the previous week's
peaceful presidential election.

Bristow cited the Malian government's recent decision to waive its
royalties for the 22month duration of the Morila pit pushback project,
as an example of fruitful cooperation between state and capital. This
will enable a more equitable share for investors and the State while
extending the mine's life by a further two years and securing the
employment of almost 1000 workers until early 2015. In combination
with a tailings retreatment project, this will also help fund the
eventual rehabilitation of the mine site, as well as the establishment
of a sustainable agribusiness to provide economic opportunity for the
local community. The development of this business is already far
advanced."The discovery and development of Morila was the foundation on
which
Randgold built its company, as well as Mali's growth into a major
African gold producer. Since it went into production in 2001, Morila
has produced more than 6million ounces of gold at an average cost of
less than USD300perounce and contributed more than USD1billion
directly to the Malian treasury," Bristow said."Our discovery of Morila was
followed by that of Yalea and Gounkoto.
These are already world-class operations and we are expanding and
upgrading them further to reach their production target of over
600000ounces per year in 2014. We are working on a feasibility study
on a possible underground mine at Gounkoto and, in the meantime, our
exploration teams are looking for further multi-million ounce gold
deposits in the Loulo-Gounkoto region."

Bristow noted that in 2012 Randgold's mines in Mali had accounted for
10.8% of the country's GDP, and this year it was expecting to pay some
USD170million directly to the Malian state in the form of taxes and
royalties. Randgold employs 5100 Malians and the management teams at
Morila, Loulo and Gounkoto are composed almost entirely of Malian
nationals. Its group regional executive for West Africa as well as its
regional operations manager are also Malians. In addition to its
policy of employing nationals of its host countries in preference to
expatriates, the company also procures goods and services from local
suppliers wherever possible, thus spreading the economic benefit of its
operations even wider."Despite the challenges of the current market,
Randgold has always
planned its business to be profitable at lower gold prices. Although
we have stress tested and revised some of our business plans, we have
not been forced to shut down operations nor to cancel growth projects.
With Loulo and Gounkoto both accessing higher grade sections of their
orebodies, and efficiency initiatives underway at all our operations,
we are confident in our ability to manage the business through these
difficult times for the gold industry. And with the real prospect of
an underground mine at Gounkoto as well as the possibility of further
major discoveries here, we are looking forward to continuing our
partnership with Mali and its people well into the future," he said.

RANDGOLD ENQUIRIES

Chief Executive  Group Regional Manager West  Investor & Media
Mark Bristow     Africa                       Relations
+447880711386    Mahamadou Samake             Kathy du Plessis
+22366750122     +22366756136                 +442075577738
                 +22320201694                 Email:randgold@dpapr.com
Website: www.randgoldresources.com 

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Except for the
historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this
news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the US
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and applicable Canadian securities
legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, statements with respect to the future price of gold, the estimation
of mineral reserves and resources, the realisation of mineral reserve
estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs
of production, reserve determination and reserve conversion rates.
Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the
use of forward-looking terminology such as 'will', 'plans', 'expects'
or 'does not expect', 'is expected', 'budget', 'scheduled','estimates',
'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates' or 'does not
anticipate', or 'believes', or variations of such words and phrases or
state that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could',
'would','might' or 'will be taken', 'occur' or 'be achieved'. Assumptions
upon
which such forward-looking statements are based are in turn based on
factors and events that are not within the control of Randgold
Resources Limited ('Randgold') and there is no assurance they will
prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the
actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of
Randgold to be materially different from those expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: risks
related to mining operations, including political risks and instability
and risks related to international operations, actual results of
current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations,
changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, as well
as those factors discussed in Randgold's filings with the US Securities
and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC'). Although Randgold has attempted
to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there
may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated,
estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements
will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Randgold does not undertake to update any forward-looking
statements herein, except in accordance with applicable securities
laws. CAUTIONARY NOTE TO US INVESTORS: The SEC permits companies, in
their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proven and probable ore
reserves. We use certain terms in this release, such as 'resources',
that the SEC does not recognise and strictly prohibits us from
including in our filings with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to
assume that all or any parts of our resources will ever be converted
into reserves which qualify as 'proven and probable reserves' for the
purposes of the SEC's Industry Guide number 7.

                    This information is provided by RNS
          The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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