Randgold Resources has awarded Shaft Sinkers Holdings, the international shaft sinking and underground construction group, the vertical shaft contract at the Kibali gold mine, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This follows on from the announcement made in September that the company had been selected by Randgold Resources to initiate mobilisation activities at Kibali. The combined mobilisation and vertical shaft contracts have an estimated total value of £82.3 million. The contract is a continuation of the work commenced under the award of mobilisation activities and is scheduled to finish in 2016.

This is an “Agreed Target Cost” contract.

Kibali is a joint venture between mine operator, Randgold Resources (45%), AngloGold Ashanti (45%) and Congolese parastatal, Sokimo (10%). The project is situated near Doko, in the north eastern Orientale province.

The mobilisation phase is progressing on schedule and as a result of the contract the scope of work is extended to include the sinking and lining of the main shaft to the final depth of 760 m, as well as associated development and civil works.

Alon Davidov, Chief Executive, said: “I am pleased to see the new business pipeline being converted into new orders. The award of a contract in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is in line with our strategy to diversify our portfolio of projects and to expand our operations on an international basis. We are confident that there will be more conversions of the new business pipeline going forward”.