Randgold Resources PLC (LON:RRS) has reported a 14% advance in 2017 profit, thanks to increased production and the African gold miner said it would double its annual dividend.
The FTSE 100 listed firm said its full year profits were US$335mln, with net cash increasing by 39% to US$720mln. It has no debt and has proposed doubling the dividend to US$2 a share.
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The company - which has operations in Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Senegal - said it had increased annual gold production by 5% to 1.315mln ounces, ahead of its guidance, while cutting total cash cost by 3% to US$620 an ounce.
The group’s chief executive Mark Bristow said the strong performance was led by Randgold's flagship, the Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali, and supported by an across-the-board delivery from its other operations, Morila in Mali, Tongon in Côte d'Ivoire and Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Randgold is forecasting 2018 production of between 1.30mln and 1.35mln ounces at a total cash cost per ounce in the range of US$590 to US$640, taking into account the effect of the current increases in the oil price and the euro/dollar exchange rate.
DRC Mining code flawed
In a separate statement, Randgold said it is engaging at the highest level with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to head off the enactment of a new mining code which the company believes “will severely limit the growth of the mining industry in the DRC as well as the country's own economic prospects.”
The new code was passed by both houses of parliament last week but still has to be signed by the president before it becomes law.
Mark Bristow, in Cape Town for the Mining Indaba, said since the new code surfaced in draft form in 2014 the mining industry had made detailed and repeated representations to the Congolese Ministry of Mines about what it regarded as very serious flaws in its provisions.
He added: "It is our express wish that the government grasps the serious consequences this ill-considered code will have on its ability as a country to attract international investment and re-investment to the DRC, and to refer the code back to the ministry of mines for further consultation with the industry. If this fails, however, we shall seek to enforce our rights including those which provide for international arbitration."