Randgold to pay dividends from I. Coast's Tongon mine in Q3 2015

(Adds quote, details)

TONGON, Ivory Coast, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Randgold Resources Ltd will begin paying dividends from its Tongon mine in Ivory Coast in the third quarter of 2015 as it targets gold production of 260,000 ounces for the year, Chief Executive Mark Bristow said on Thursday.

The London-listed company is one of the main gold miners in Ivory Coast, a soft commodities powerhouse that is now seeking to diversify its economy and develop its mining sector. The government forecast total gold production of 17 tonnes in 2014.

Tongon began production in 2010 and output is set to rise over the next few years.

"Tongon is a profitable mine. Beginning in the third quarter of this year we will be able to pay out dividends to shareholders," Bristow told journalists during a visit to the mine in the northwest of Ivory Coast.

Randgold owns 89 percent of Tongon while the Ivorian government has a 10 percent stake and a local company has a 1 percent share.

The mine missed its 2014 production target of 250,000 ounces by 10 percent due to technical problems, Bristow said. Output is expected to reach 280,000 ounces in 2016 before attaining full output of 300,000 ounces the following year. (Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by David Clarke and Susan Fenton)