Endeavour Mining starts building Lafigué gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire

Endeavour Mining (TSX, LSE: EDV) has kicked off construction at its 80%-owned Lafigué gold project in Côte d’Ivoire, which is expected to begin production in the third quarter of 2024.

The $448 million project, located on the Fetekro property, adds to a long list of activities the London-based miner has undertaken this year. These include the Sabodala-Massawa expansion project in Senegal, and the construction of a recyanidation circuit at its cornerstone Ity operation, also in Côte d’Ivoire.

Based on the just finished definitive feasibility study, Lafigué will produce in average 203,000 oz. of gold a year, at an all-in sustaining cost of $871 per oz. over a 12.8-year mine life.

Endeavour’s chief executive, Sébastien de Montessus, said the mine would be “a cornerstone” for the company, allowing it to enhance the group’s geographical diversification.

“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,” he said in news release.

De Montessus added the company was already seeing reduced inflationary pressures and favourable foreign exchange rates, compared to earlier in the year.

Executive VP for exploration and growth, Patrick Bouisset, said the Lafigué discovery was an example of how the company creates value.

“For a modest exploration investment of $31-million, which represents a discovery cost of $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-Iguela property in Côte d’Ivoire, where we expect to publish a maiden resource later this year.”

The company has forecast full year production of between 1.32 million and 1.4 million oz. of gold for this year at all-in sustaining costs of $880 to $930 per ounce.

Endeavour shares rose 2% since markets closed on Friday, rising to a high of $23.59 on Monday morning in Toronto. The miner’s shares have traded in a 52-week window of $22.89 and $35.94. It has a market cap of $5.8 billion.