OKU Oklo Resources Limited

Coup leaders in Mali, Africa's third largest gold producer, met with gold mining companies this week to request that gold miners continue operating and to reassure them that the all is under control and the state still functioning, two gold miners said.

Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD), Mali's largest producer, and Australia-based Oklo Resources Ltd. (OKU.AU) along with five other major foreign-owned gold producers in Mali met with senior representatives of the coup leaders Monday.

The representatives assured them that the "situation was under control" and that the "state was still functioning," said Randgold, which derives about 64% of its gold from its mines in Mali.

Meanwhile Oklo, which is developing two gold mines in Mali, said one of the senior representative "acknowledged" the importance of gold mining to Mali's economy and made promises to allow fuel and other mine supplies to come into the country.

Randgold said all borders, including Bamako airport, opened for traffic as of Tuesday. Many of landlocked Mali's supplies pass across its south west border with Senegal far from the violence in the north of the country. Randgold was able to bring fuel through the Senegal border to its mine in the country over the weekend and continues to operate all it mines in the country.

Gold mining is vitally important to Mali, with the sector accounting for 70% of the country's exports, global political risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group said in a note in January.

Last week disgruntled Malian soldiers stormed the state broadcaster's offices and swept through the presidential palace, sending the president into hiding one month before Mali was set to hold elections.

Mali's army has been caught up fighting in the Azawad region against a separatist army of ethnic Tuaregs many of whom had returned home with their weapons from Libya where they had served in the forces of leader Moammar Gadhafi. Soldiers have complained that the government was too slow to allocate heavier weaponry.

Oklo has a 75% interest in two gold development projects in the far west of the country near the Mauritania border. The company said its projects are operating normally.

Other gold miners in the country, including Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG.JO), said work continues as normal after the coup.

Gold Fields said it stopped drilling for a day but then resumed work. The mining company said it has enough supplies on site to drill for a few more weeks if borders remain closed.

-By Devon Maylie, Dow Jones Newswires, +27 11 783 7848; devon.maylie@dowjones.com

(Drew Hinshaw in Senegal and Alex MacDonald in London contributed to this report.)

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