ENDEAVOUR Mining CEO Ian Cockerill said speculation in June linking his company with Barrick Mining made no sense because he would only be likely to back mergers and acquisitions if they reduced the firm’s political risk.
Reuters reported Barrick was weighing an all-share deal to hive off its African assets into Endeavour Mining and then list in London. One of Barrick’s largest mines in Africa is Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali in West Africa.
“I have to say, when I saw that comment [the speculation] I was quite surprised, and I’m not sure where it came from,” said Cockerill at the firm’s second quarter and interim operating and financial results on Thursday.
“We’re comfortable with where we are. We’re operating in these areas, and going forward it would certainly make sense for us to look at what might be perceived as lower-risk areas if we were to pursue any M&A,” he added.
“We are, after all, exiting our assets in Mali, so it hardly makes sense for us to think about going back into a place like Mali.” Endeavour has a project in Mali called Kalana which it wrote down for $9.5m in 2025 following a $133.1m impairment the previous year. Mali has a troubled recent past following successive coups in 2020 and 2021.
Its military junta has since reformed the country’s mining regulations, which have included scrapping stability clauses, imposing mid-cycle tax audits with severe penalties, and demanding companies agree to greater dilution by local companies, to 35% from 20%.
Responding to a question on M&A, Cockerill said Endeavour was alive to opportunities, but its focus was on exploration. The company has discovered 22.4 million ounces in gold resources since 2016, which is more than it has mined over the same period. “We have done this at a sector-leading discovery cost ($25/oz) and we have top-tier projects, like Assafou, in our pipeline,” he said. Endeavour has budgeted $100m for exploration this year, of which $44m has been spent.
Assafou, a $1bn project in Côte d’Ivoire, is due for final investment approval before year-end ahead of a 24-to-30-month construction period. It is slated to produce 320,000 oz a year of gold over its first eight years. The company is also expanding underground at Sabodala-Massawa in Senegal in an effort to maintain output at 350,000 oz/year.
Endeavour reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $1.6bn for the first six months of its 2026 financial year, a 38% increase year-on-year. At 564,000 oz, production was 13% lower, while all-in sustaining costs of $1,871/oz were 46% higher. The increase in AISC was owing to lower gold output and increased sustaining capital at Houndé, a mine in Burkina Faso, in the second quarter.
However, the gold price was 55% higher.
Political risk
The outcome for shareholders was a $301m capital return, consisting of $230m in dividends and $71m in share buy-backs. Endeavour has previously stated a returns programme of $300m for this year, followed by $325m and $350m in 2027 and 2028, respectively.
Despite the troubles in Mali, Cockerill said the company found its regions had become more stable in recent months, especially in Burkina Faso, where it also operates the Mana mine. “Things have actually been quite stable over the past six to nine months; the government seems much more in control of the area,” he said.
The government recently insisted that mine supplies be provided through a state-owned company, a move Cockerill described as initially disruptive. Although there has been improvement, Cockerill said he wished to work with Endeavour’s previous contractors.
In Côte d’Ivoire, Cockerill said the government had assured the company it would install a mining convention for Assafou that was similar to the 200,000 oz/year Lafigué, a mine Endeavour commissioned in the West African country in 2024.
“The Minister of Mines has given us an undertaking that the convention will be signed under the 2014 mining code, meaning a 10% free carry for the state,” said Cockerill. “The concerns that it might be a 15% free carry don’t appear to be valid.”
