WEST AFRICA Endeavour Mining 2014 – 4 mines, 400 000+ ozpa 2014 will mark the achievement of a major production milestone for TSX/ASX-listed West African gold mining focused company Endeavour Mining as it hits the 400 000+ annual gold ounce target, CEO Neil Woodyer tells Laura Cornish. IN SHORT Endeavour Mining will spend 2014 ensuring it reaches its target production from its current operational mines while looking at the next steps required to bring its new project Houndé on stream. T hanks to production start-up at its new Agbaou operation in Côte d’Ivoire at the end of 2013, Endeavour kicked off 2014 with four operating mines. Impressively, they are in four different West African countries – Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire. “We are simple but profitable West African miners,” Woodyer starts. “Our operations are all opencast (except for Tabakoto which also has two underground mines); they have reasonable grades, on average about 2.4 g/t which is good for the region; and use simple metallurgical recovery processes with no strange sulphide and refractory ores. We use the tried-and-tested carbon-in-leach (CIL) process and the low-risk contract mining approach for the open pits.” “Last year (2013) was a very heavy capital expenditure year which saw us spend about US$220 million to deliver on our guidance promise to produce 325 000 oz of gold. Completing the construction of our cashflow-generating Agbaou mine slightly ahead of schedule and under budget was one of the final steps necessary to reach our target of producing between 400 and 440 000 ozpa of gold,” Woodyer explains. The last cornerstone in ensuring delivery of Endeavour’s total ounce profile (and remains to a small extent) is asset optimisation, which the company has been focusing on – particularly at its Tabakoto mine in Mali. “Towards mid-year we should be well optimised across all our mines and on the road to over 400 000 oz for the year. In the latter part of 2014 I expect an all-in sustaining cost of about $1 000/oz, putting us in a good competitive state, requiring only operational fine-tuning thereafter.” Overseeing four smooth-running operations is by no means the end of the Endeavour Mining story. The company is also looking to bring an additional two assets on stream. The first to ensure production volumes at Tabakoto are maintained and the second an entirely new asset with the potential to add 180 000 ozpa to the total production volumes, “without stressing the balance sheet”. NEW RESOURCES COMING ON BOARD Kofi The 449 km² Kofi Nord permit, situated about 35 km north of Tabakoto and just north of Randgold Resources’ 11 Moz Loulo mine, will ensure Tabakoto’s production profile is maintained in the short term. Considering its location, the property also has the potential to be developed as a standalone operation. “The mineralized zones on the southern side of the permit can be trucked to the Tabakoto plant.” The northern side however that holds massive potential given that the two major structures that host more than 11 Moz of resources on Loulo continue for 19 km onto the Kofi property’s northern region. “This means we may evaluate the possibility of establishing a standalone mine as opposed to developing it simply as a continuation of Tabakoto. Regardless of the decision we make for its long Agbaou includes three open pits 12 MINING REVIEW AFRICA ISSUE 5 2014