Endeavour Mining commences construction at Lafigué Gold project

Highlights: 

DFS confirms Lafigué’s potential to become a cornerstone asset for Endeavour:

• Reserves increased by 0.6 million oz or 30% over the preliminary feasibility study (PFS) to 2.7 million oz.
• 4 million tpy capacity CIL plant selected, up from 3 million tpy contemplated in the PFS, due to the increased resource base and significant exploration potential.
• Annual production of 203 koz at a low AISC of US$871/oz over its 12.8 year initial mine life.
• Robust after-tax IRR of 21% and NPV5% of US$477 million at a US$1500/oz gold price, with upfront capital cost of US$448 million.
• Significant exploration potential, targeting the discovery of 1.5 to 2.0 million oz of M&I resources by 2025.
• Lafigué construction is underway with first gold production expected in early 3Q24.
• Group well positioned to continue robust shareholder returns programme through dividends and buybacks while delivering organic growth to improve its portfolio quality and enhance diversification.

Sebastien de Montessus, President and CEO said:

“We are very pleased to launch the construction of Lafigué as it will become another cornerstone mine for Endeavour while continuing to enhance our geographic diversification. Lafigué is expected to improve the quality of our portfolio, given its attractive production profile of approximately 200 000 oz/yr at an industry-low AISC of US$871/oz over its initial 12.8 year mine life, with robust project economics. Moreover, we are excited by its exploration potential as we have confirmed mineralisation at several targets in close proximity to the Lafigué deposit.

We are ideally positioned to launch the construction of Lafigué, given our net cash position, the continued strong performance of our operations, and our success in de-risking the Sabadola-Massawa expansion with a significant portion of the capital already committed on-budget. Moreover, we are seeing reduced inflationary pressures and favourable foreign exchange rates compared to earlier in the year.

In line with our capital allocation framework, we are committed to delivering strong shareholder returns in the form of dividends and share buybacks while we continue to invest in our business by pursuing the most attractive growth opportunities.”

Patrick Bouisset, Executive Vice President Exploration and Growth said:

“The Lafigué discovery is a great example of how we can create significant value. For a modest exploration investment of US$31 million, which represents a discovery cost of US$12/oz, we have added a new cornerstone asset to our portfolio. To continue to source our projects organically, we have increased our greenfield exploration efforts, which, over recent months, have resulted in significant success at our Tanda-Iguelaproperty in Côte d’Ivoire, where we expect to publish a maiden resource later this year.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/18102022/endeavour-mining-commences-construction-at-lafigu-gold-project/