CEO PROFILE equally mindful of the health and safety of its employees and it strives constantly to improve an already exemplary record in this regard,” he said.
In 2014 Bristow said in a presentation in London that gold mining companies should not prefer one stakeholder class over another but should ensure that all benefit equitably from their activities. He said in the emerging regions where the gold mining industry’ s operations were now largely located, the host country was a particularly important player and should be embraced not only as a stakeholder but as a partner.
“ Mining anywhere, but particularly in emerging regions, exploits a country’ s national assets and so it’ s important that the host country and its people benefit from this,” he said.
“ Arguably, a mining company’ s primary responsibility is to its host country, although of course shareholders are also critically important because without investment there would be no mining projects. Mining companies and their host governments should be aligned in the drive to attract such investment and to ensure that all shareholders benefit.”
Bristow said gold mining companies could only satisfy the expectations of shareholders as well as other stakeholders through sustainable profitability.“ To achieve sustainable profitability, a gold mining company has to get a lot of tricky variables into equilibrium within the framework of a coherent strategy. In other words, it needs a long-term vision, not merely an urge to exploit a passing market trend. In a cyclical sector, it makes no sense to run a business that relies solely on a rising gold price to be able to deliver value,” he said. Actions speak louder than words and Randgold is certainly a leader among global miners in investing in the countries in which it operates. Last October Bristow was able to announce in Cote d’ Ivoire that Tongon gold mine had paid off its shareholders’ loans of $ 448 million, used to partially fund its capital investment of $ 580 million, thereby moving it into a dividend-paying position.
“ Tongon has already paid close to $ 90 million to the Ivorian state in the form of royalties and taxes and the country will now benefit even more from the dividends the government will receive through its 10 % carried interest in the mine as well as the increased revenue when Tongon starts paying full corporate tax at the end of this year,” Bristow said. He noted that
Bristow and team underground at Kibali
since its commissioning five years ago, Tongon had also contributed more than $ 600 million to the Ivorian economy in the form of payments to local suppliers and had invested almost $ 6 million in community upliftment projects. Bristow has no time for companies that attempt to evade their local tax obligations.
Returning to the subject of exploration, during that presentation in Abidjan he noted that“ ongoing exploration around Tongon has increased its reserves after depletion by 18 % since 2009, extending its remaining life by another year. We also continue to look for more multi-million ounce deposits elsewhere in this highly prospective country, and we are about to launch our biggest-ever exploration drive in Côte d’ Ivoire. This will include a fresh look at the Nielle permit, which hosts Tongon, and a geophysical survey, followed by a diamond drilling program across our holdings in the north of the country.”
Speaking more recently, in April, in Kinshasa, he noted that the two-year-old Kibali operation’ s remarkable success was a tribute to an effective cooperative effort which had united the developers, the authorities, the community, the contractors and suppliers in a strong commitment and a common purpose.
“ It’ s been a significant achievement for a country which is rich in mineral resources but has not always managed to make the most of this endowment. Kibali is going to make a major impact on the Congolese economy – it has already spent more than $ 1 billion with local service and goods providers – and I believe it will also be the flagship for the development of a major gold mining industry in this country,” he said.
Bristow cautioned, however, that Kibali was still a work in progress and faced many
challenges as it worked towards its completion in 2018, when the underground mine is expected to be fully operational.
“ The next two years will be particularly tough, as Kibali continues to ramp up its underground production within the constraints of a lower grade and the consequent need for a higher throughput.
“ To ensure Kibali’ s continued delivery, our partnership with government and the community will if anything have to be strengthened. For its part, government has to focus on the urgent need to establish an effective local administration, in an area where rapid population growth and the lack of functional structures are generating a complex social dynamic that will become increasingly difficult to deal with.”
Bristow said that despite the stressed gold market, the operational challenges at Kibali and socio-political issues in the DRC, Randgold remained committed to increasing its presence in the country, and had recently entered into a new joint-venture agreement – its third in the region – with government-owned Soc Minière de Kilo-Moto SA( SOKIMO) and Moku Goldmines for the Moku-Beverendi gold exploration project, along the same greenstone belt that hosts Kibali. In terms of the agreement with the owner of the project, Soc Minière de Moku- Beverendi, Randgold can earn in a minimum 51 % stake in the project by funding and conducting exploration and completing a prefeasibility study. This addition to its portfolio extends Randgold’ s exploration footprint in the DRC to 7,824 km ², spanning the major gold belt in the northeast of the country.
“ Our commitment to expanding our presence and stepping up our greenfields exploration here demonstrates our long term intent of finding world class gold deposits and developing them into profitable mines, thus contributing to the DRC’ s continuing evolution as a democratic society with a robust economy,” Bristow said.
Randgold was founded on Bristow’ s pioneering exploration work in West Africa. He has subsequently led the company’ s growth through the discovery and development of world class assets into a major international gold mining business. He has also played a significant role in promoting the emergence of sustainable mining in Africa. There are many lessons to be learned from the achievements of Randgold and its pioneering CEO, Mark Bristow, in Africa. IM
AUGUST 2016 | International Mining 87