Ian Cockerill

BY now Ian Cockerill should have been comfortably retired at his Simon’s Town home, and indulging in his passion for wildlife and conservation. Instead, he is now running a large, ASX-listed gold miner operating in one of the most volatile mining jurisdictions, West Africa. In 2024 he took over as CEO of Endeavour Mining, where he had previously served as deputy chairperson, when incumbent Sébastien de Montessus was fired for “dodgy” money transfers in a very public scandal.  Taking on that executive role was a brave move at Cockerill’s age – 69 – but one he was happy to make because, as he says, he cannot walk away from a challenge.

Not only has he had to deal with the financial and reputational fallout of the scandal, he had to guide the company’s operations in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso in hostile political environments. Most serious is the situation in Mali, where the country’s military regime has held mining executives hostage to coerce companies to sign a new mining code that significantly raises taxes and gives the state substantial stakes.

Earlier this year, Cockerill signed the code covering Endeavour’s Somika SA operation. It is not surprising therefore that the company has started to spread its wings, investing $25m in 2025 for a “tier-one” JV gold deposit in Kazakhstan. More funding will be needed as Cockerill recently announced an ambitious 2026-2030 expansion programme for Endeavour, targeting the discovery of up to 15Moz in mineral resources at a cost of $540m over the period.