TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused miner Randgold Resources remains on track to meet the 600 000-oz-plus guidance for its Kibali mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), despite experiencing some sequencing difficulties at the mill.

According to CEO Mark Bristow, the company had resolved certain expected challenges regarding the complexity of dealing with multiple ore types from different sources, which negatively impacted throughput, recovery and grade in the first half of the year. 

“This issue is being resolved . . . and management has taken measures and revised the mine plan to keep Kibali on course to meet its . . . production target for the year,” Bristow stated on Tuesday.

Randgold affirmed that the Kibali gold mining complex, which had become a significant economic dynamo in the region, would remain a work in progress until its underground mining component came online towards the end of 2017. In the meantime, mine management was reported to have made significant progress in dealing with transitional challenges.

Bristow highlighted that development of the underground mine was on track and the shaft was currently being integrated with the decline section. Commissioning is pencilled in for July 2017. The team was also focusing on opening two high-grade satellite pits in 2016 and 2017, which would greatly improve operational flexibility, Bristow said.

Further, Randgold advised that the construction of the Ambarau hydropower station was back on track and was expected to start generating electricity in the fourth quarter of this year.  Work had already started on Azambi, which would be Kibali’s third hydropower station. 

The miner continued to expand its footprint in the DRC, most recently through the Ngayu and Moku exploration joint ventures. Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2015, were estimated at 80-million tonnes grading 4.1 g/t of gold for 10.6-million ounces.

Randgold expected to produce nearly 1.3-million ounces of gold from its portfolio of African projects this year.