A definitive feasibility examine (DFS) on London- and Toronto-listed Endeavour Mining’s Assafou-Dibbango (Assafou) challenge, in Côte d’Ivoire, has confirmed the the standard and scale of the asset, which will underpin the subsequent part of the corporate’s natural progress, CEO Ian Cockerill says.
“Assafou has the potential to change into one other cornerstone asset for Endeavour, including 320 000 ouncesy of manufacturing at a first-quartile all-in sustaining value (AISC) of $1 026/oz, over the primary eight years of its16-year mine life. It is going to be our lowest-cost and longest-life mine, additional enhancing our portfolio high quality whereas bolstering the resilience of the enterprise.
“The spectacular challenge economics reveal our skill to quickly generate worth by the drill bit. Assafou was found for $13-million in 2022 and solely 4 years later has a price of $5.1-billion at a $4 000/ouncesgold value. As we proceed to de-risk the challenge and develop its useful resource base by exploration, we anticipate to unlock much more worth,” he provides.
The DFS estimates an upfront capital value of $1.06-billion will probably be wanted to construct the mine and its related infrastructure.
The Assafou deposit mineralisation extends from floor to depths in extra of 300 m and is amenable to traditional openpit, drill and blast mining. Ore will probably be processed by a five-million-tonne-a-year gravity or carbon-in-leach processing plant.
The after-tax internet current worth (NPV) is estimated at $2.1-billion and the interior fee of return (IRR) at 28% at a gold value of $2.500/oz. The NPV and IRR will increase to $5.1-billion and 55%, respectively, at a gold value of $4 000/oz.
Endeavour expects to make a last funding choice (FID) on the challenge earlier than the tip of this yr. If it decides to proceed with the event, building is projected to take between 24 and 30 months.
“Working carefully with our supportive in-country stakeholders, we’re advancing the challenge’s mining conference, and we’re concentrating on an FID earlier than the tip of the yr. Concurrently, now we have launched early works, detailed engineering and design, key tenders and long-lead orders to expedite building.
“As we advance Assafou, we are going to stay disciplined and prioritise maximising free money movement from each ounce of gold we produce, making certain that we proceed to ship sector main shareholder returns, whereas we organically develop manufacturing to 1.5-million ounces by 2030,” says Cockerill.
