Ivorian Tongon Gold Mine Ahead Of Schedule - Randgold CEO

Construction at a new gold mine being built by Randgold Resources (RRS.LN) in the north of Ivory Coast is ahead of schedule and likely to begin production in September 2010, chief executive Mark Bristow told Dow Jones Newswires on a visit to the site.

So far $94 million has been spent at Tongon with a series of large shipments now expected over the coming months to March, including the two mills.

"Production is now due to start in September and we're pretty sure we can start things ahead of that," Bristow said, adding that the postponement of presidential elections should reduce risk during this construction phase.

The mine is expected to produce around 7.8 metric tons annually and will dwarf the country's three current gold operations at Bonikro (in Hiré near Divo) run by Lihir Gold Ltd. (LGL.AU), at Angovia run by Cluff Gold PLC (CLF.LN) and at Ity run by La Mancha.

Mining is seen as a major priority for the current government and Bristow said the country has perfect geology but with very little research.

"We need a sign at the airport that says 'Welcome to Gold country'", he told the Dow Jones reporter Friday.

He said Randgold Resources was currently going through a period of expansion - looking to increase overall production by 50% by 2011 and double production by 2013, before starting exploitation at the Kibali (Moto) site in Congo, where he said the they had an estimated gold reserve of 600 tons.

"We're going to present the scoping study for Gounkoto [Mali]--a very exciting project--in London next week. Massawa [Senegal] is on schedule for prefeasibility at the year-end and we've indicated that we'll have a complete roadmap for Moto [Congo] ready to share with the market at the end of January next year."

Monday, Randgold Resources, together with AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU), said it has entered into a definite agreement with L'Office des Mines d'Or de Kilo-Moto, or OKIMO, to purchase an additional 20% stake in the Moto gold project for an aggregate consideration of $113.6 million.

-By John James; Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]