Endeavour sets 5-year gold discovery target
Endeavour Mining Corp. (EDV-TSX) said it is targeting the discovery of 15-20 million ounces of indicated gold resources at its operations over the next five years. The company is aiming to meet that target across West Africa at a cost of US$25 an ounce.
The company said the discovery target was established using the same conservative ranking and screening methodology which has successfully yielded the discovery of 8.5 million ounces of indicated resources over the past four years.
“Our exploration strategy is centred on continuing to extend the mine lives of our core assets to well beyond 10 years and discovering new greenfield projects,” said Endeavour President and CEO Sebastien de Montessus.
“While we see significant opportunities across our portfolio, we are particularly pleased with the potential defined at our flagship mines: Sabodala-Massawa, Hounde and Ity,” he said. “We believe these mines have the potential to be Tier 1 assets with over 10 million ounces resource endowment, inclusive of historic production.”
At Ity, for example, the company hopes to add 3.5-4.0 million ounces of indicated resources in the next five year at a discovery cost of US$17 an ounce. During the same period, the company hopes to add 3.0-4.0 million ounces at the Hounde mine.
The target at Sabodala-Massawa is 2.3-2.7 million ounces.
Endeavour is one of the world’s senior gold producers and the largest in West Africa, with operating assets across Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso and a strong portfolio of advanced development projects and exploration assets in the highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt across West Africa.
Endeavour has achieved that position after recently striking a deal to acquire another West Africa-focused company Teranga Gold Corp., in an all-share transaction worth $2.44 billion (US$1.86 billion).
The combination created a new top ten senior gold producer with average annual production of more than 1.5 million ounces from six core operating mines.
While Endeavour has identified several greenfield targets which have the potential to yield a new project, it has taken a conservative approach whereby it has factored for one potential success within its five-year discovery target, amounting to between 1.5-2.0 million ounces of indicated resources.
On Friday, Endeavour shares edged up 0.2% or $0.06 to $28.57 on volume of 262,760. Endeavour trades in a 52-week range of $37.12 and $23.12. The share price
Endeavour recently said it is well positioned to meet its full year 2021 production guidance of 1.36 million-1.49 million ounces of gold at an all-in-sustaining cost of US$890 to US$900 an ounce. That target is expected to be reached after the successful integration of the Teranga assets.