Randgold Resources today welcomed the announcement of a political settlement brokered in Mali by its West African neighbours and said the disruptions which followed last month’s military coup had not materially affected its gold production in that country. Over the weekend the military junta announced that it had agreed to reinstate the constitution, in terms of which the president of the national assembly will act as head of state and oversee the appointment of an interim prime minister to manage the country’s return to democratic rule.As part of the settlement agreement, President Amadou Toumani Toure has formally resigned as head of state. The appointment of the interim prime minister will be by consensus and involve civil society and political parties. In return, Mali’s ECOWAS neighbours have lifted the sanctions they had imposed and committed to actively support the restoration of stability in Mali.Randgold CEO Mark Bristow said the announced resolution of the political crisis had strengthened the company’s confidence in the political maturity of the West African region and its ability to settle conflict situations without external involvement. Randgold owns and operates the Loulo/Gounkoto mine complex in Mali and also operates Morila, a joint venture with AngloGold Ashanti.“During this period these operations continued to operate without any material disruption and the fact that they still have sufficient supplies of fuel and other consumables on hand is a tribute to our partnership and in-country management philosophy. Our production guidance for 2012 remains unchanged, although we have not completed our assessment of the impact this situation has had on costs. We will monitor the implementation of the political settlement by the relevant parties, and give the market a full update when we report our first quarter results on 3 May,” he said.