Randgold Resources Tongon mine in Ivory Coast hit by strike

Randgold Resources (LON:RSS) said Tuesday an ongoing strike by its subcontractor’s workforce at Tongon gold mine in the Ivory Coast, has started to hit operations.

As a result, the Africa-focused gold producer is now not sure the operation will achieve its 290,000-ounce production forecast for the year, though CEO and co-founder Mark Bristow said Randgold's group outlook for 2018 remained within the guidance of 1.3-1.35 million ounces.

Tongon is currently processing ore from the run-of-mine and scats stockpiles, but management said the operation was lagging its production forecast. While the operations were expected to get back to full capacity, the challenge will be recovering the lost production, Randgold said.

The operation was out of action about a year ago for five days following an illegal sit-in related to ex-gratia payments. The reason for today’s industrial action was not disclosed.

Tongon, which is made up of two open pits, achieved in 2017 a 11% increase in gold production to 288,680 ounces and a 12% reduction in total cash costs to $676 per ounce.

Based on current reserves, however, the mine has just over three years of productive life left.

The post Randgold Resources Tongon mine in Ivory Coast hit by strike appeared first on MINING.com.

from MINING.com https://ift.tt/2ImAxLW