RandgoldResources Ltd. said July 23 that production at its gold mine in Ivory Coastis expected to decline due to an extended downtime experienced by a mill at thesite.

The company now expects to produce over 260,000 ounces ofgold this year, from 290,000 ounces announced previously.

The decline in the output was also attributed to the erraticpower supply from the national grid.

Following the completion of the final phase of the project'sextensive crusher expansion and mill circuit upgrade, the mine is on track todeliver improved performance in the second half, with annual production risingto 300,000 ounces in 2017, Randgold CEO Mark Bristow said in a news conference.

Bristow noted that Tongon remains a profitable operation andthat the mine declared a maiden dividend of US$22 million.

Additionally, Bloomberg News cited Bristow as saying thatthe company intends to earmark US$70 million for feasibility studies anddrilling at its Massawa gold project in Senegal, as a new gold depositestimated to host around 2 million ounces was discovered, bringing totalresources at the project to 4.8 million ounces.