London-listed miner Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD) Thursday said its Massawa project in Senegal contained a 3.39 million troy ounce inferred resource, the first time the company has released a figure for one of its major potential developments.

Randgold, incorporated in Jersey, operates two gold mines in Mali.

But mining is scheduled to end at its 40%-owned Morila mine in April, leaving future growth dependent on an underground mining project at its Loulo mine in Mali, construction of its Tongon project in Ivory Coast and development of exploration projects like the Massawa discovery.

"They really are on a sustainable footing now," Arbuthnot analyst John McGloin said after the company released the Massawa numbers.

McGloin said the testing results for Senegal are an exciting development for Randgold, and he estimated that further exploration could indicate resources in excess of 5 million ounces.

Randgold Chief Executive Mark Bristow said first production could start at Massawa in 2013. The company plans a feasibility study by the end of 2010.

"We're pretty confident given the current outlook on gold that we should be able to fund Massawa out of our balance sheet," Bristow told Dow Jones Newswires.

Randgold has more than $250 million in available cash.

Bristow said the company's production was on track to exceed 700,000 ounces by 2011 as other projects come on line. Attributable gold production was 428,426 ounces in 2008.

At 1011 GMT, Randgold's shares were up 89 pence, or 2.3%, at 3972 pence, underperforming the sector. The FTSE350 mining index was up 7.5%.

Randgold shares are up almost 35% since the start of the year, compared with 24% for the sector.

Company Web site: http://www.randgoldresources.com

-By Jeffrey Sparshott, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)207 842 9347; jeffrey.sparshott@dowjones.com