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Mark Britow, CEO of South Africa's Randgold Resources, says he is chasing one last major discovery before he retires. The 55-year-old director has seen Randgold grow from a junior mining discovery company to an international gold producer of the Krugerrand with assets in Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal. His next big find would be in the Ivory Coast.
"I would like to find another great asset. For me, that would be the perfect end to my career," he told reporters in Johannesburg on July 2.
Bristow, trained as a geologist, has discovered three gold mines in Mali. These mines have accounted for 20 million ounces over the course of his 30-year career at Randgold.
The Kibali mine in Congo has been operational since the end of 2013. This allows Randgold to continue to produce gold profitably, even if the gold price were to fall below $1000 per troy ounce for five years. That is currently 32% lower than the current price. Now the new challenge lies in the following five years.
Randgold's main exploration area is currently the Ivory Coast, where the company already operates a 6 million ounce capacity mine in Tongon.
"The Ivory Coast is still virgin," Bristow says, referring to unexplored territory. "The country has good infrastructure, low electricity costs and a manageable political climate. Our focus is on ore expansion, which is why Côte d'Ivoire is so important to us."
Source: Bloomberg
