ENDEAVOUR Mining’s Ity carbon-in-leach (CIL) project in Côte d’Ivoire would produce first gold early in the second quarter of 2019, two months ahead of schedule.
“Completing the construction sooner is expected to result in material improvement to our 2019 free-cash flow generation potential as Ity CIL will be a low-cost operation with all-in sustaining costs (AISC) expected to be below $500/oz over its first five years,” said Sébastien de Montessus, President and CEO of Endeavour Mining in a statement.
The first gold pour was previously scheduled for mid-2019.
“The early installation of the Ball and SAG mills, combined with the excellent progress made during the rainy season, have been key factors which have helped advance the Ity CIL construction ahead of schedule,” said Jeremy Langford, COO and executive vice-president of projects at Endeavour Mining.
Endeavour is pressing ahead with growth in Côte d’Ivoire on several fronts. On September 24, it said it hoped to post a maiden resource estimate for Fetekro, a greenfield exploration property in north-central Côte d’Ivoire which it described as “a priority target”. Endeavour began exploration on the Fetekro property in March 2017. Since then, a total of 312 holes have been drilled, amounting to nearly 32,000 meters, the company said.
It has also pruned its portfolio of mines. On September 4, it announced it would sell Tabakoto, a gold mine in Mali, for $60m to Algom Resources. Tabakoto reported AISC in the second quarter of $1,397/oz which compared to the $1,208/oz it produced in the first quarter of the financial year.
