Randgold considers acquisitions amid gold mining industry crunch

Randgold considers acquisitions amid gold mining industry crunch

Mark Bristow (55) founded Randgold in the 1990s. Under his management, the company has grown to have a market value of $7 billion and be the U.K-listed biggest gold producer.

Africa-focused gold producer Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) said Monday it may consider acquiring new assets as several gold miners are in the process of shedding non-core operations to survive the current squeeze on the industry.

Delivering its 2014 annual results, the miner also said it intends to continue paying a progressive ordinary dividend that will “increase or at least be maintained annually.”

Chief executive Mark Bristow highlighted that, unlike most of the industry, Randgold has not needed to reduce its reserves and resources as the gold price dropped. On the contrary, he said the company has increased ore reserves in 2014 despite also registering record production.

“We have looked closely at all our mines to ensure that they will still be profitable at $1,000 per ounce and we’ll continue to review our operations against a range of gold price scenarios.”

Steady growth

Bristow (55) founded Randgold in the 1990s. Under his management, the company has grown to have a market value of $7 billion (4.2 billion pounds) and be the U.K.’s biggest gold producer.

A geologist by training, Bristow led the discoveries of three gold mines in Mali holding 20 million ounces in deposits. The company has also built the Kibali mine in the DRC and Tongon in Ivory Coast.

Thanks to the executive’s conservative policies, Randgold has not needed to write down its reserves and resources as the gold price dropped, unlike most of its gold peers. This is because the firm has calculated its reserves at  $1,000 per ounce and its resources at $1,500 per once for the past three years.

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