The company said, following an update of the existing estimates by Cube Consulting Pty Ltd (Cube), the indicated mineral resource was now 13.93 Moz which represents an increase of 23% over the previous indicated mineral resource of 11.29 Moz. 7.67 Moz at a grade of 6.08 g/t from the Karagba-Chauffeur-Durba (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 of 3.53 Moz at a grade of 5.1 g/t. Total inferred resources declined from 11.23 Moz to 5.83 Moz but increased in grade from 3.3 g/t to 3.55 g/t. The decline in inferred resources resulted partially from conversion to indicated mineral resources as well as Randgold Resources' requirement that all resource estimates reflect only those mineral resources for which there is a reasonable prospect for eventual economic extraction. The Cube update incorporated the results from infill drilling on the KCD deposit.
Chief executive Mark Bristow said the mineral resource update had underlined the high quality of the Kibali orebody and was a step forward in Randgold's review of the project following the completion of the Moto Goldmines acquisition in October.
"We're now working on a review of the geological model and expect to continue to update resources and re-estimate reserves as we obtain new results from our ongoing drill programmes and progress our understanding of the geological controls on mineralisation. This will, along with results from additional technical and process reviews contribute to the ongoing optimisation of the feasibility study completed by Moto," he said.