Monday 30 January 2017 4:33 pm

Randgold Resources is set to post record results from its flagship Mali mine, but an “illegal sit-in” halts production at another

Randgold Resources said its flagship Loulo-Gounkoto gold mining complex in Mali expects to report record production for the fourth quarter of 2016 to top off an already good year.

Chief executive Mark Bristow told the press today the company was on track to report it had exceeded its production guidance of 670,000 ounces of gold for 2016 and will exceed annual production of 600,000 ounces for at least the next 10 years.

Shares were up 1.06 per cent at 6,650p in afternoon trading.

Bristow praised the mine, saying: "The Loulo-Gounkoto complex is not just world-class, it is the best in its class by any measure, from the quality of its all-Malian management team through its successful owner-mining underground operation to its exemplary safety, health and environmental management programmes."

Bristow said the company is committed to further investment in Mali, which he said Randgold has developed into one of the world's premier gold exploration and mining destinations.

In a separate statement, the miner said it is in negotiations to resolve an "illegal sit-in" at its troublesome Tongon mine in Cote d'Ivoire late last Thursday. Randgold said some of its employees were demanding annual ex gratia payments. The sit-in is not supported by the union, which has joined the government to urge workers to end the action.

Randgold will announce its full-year production results next week.