Endeavour Announces Wet Commissioning is Underway at
Sabodala-Massawa BIOX Expansion
ENDEAVOUR ANNOUNCES WET COMMISSIONING IS
UNDERWAY AT SABODALA-MASSAWA BIOX EXPANSION
First gold expected in early May · Project on
schedule and on budget with no LTIs · 91% project completion
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Over 3
million man hours have been completed with zero lost-time
injuries
- Wet
commissioning is underway with overall construction activities 91%
complete
- Expansion
project on budget and on schedule with the first gold pour expected
in early May
-
Sabodala-Massawa is expected to produce between 360-400koz
at a sector leading AISC of between $750-850/oz in
FY-2024
-
Sabodala-Massawa is the largest exploration focus this year
with a guided spend of $21 million
|
Dakar, 27 February
2024 – Endeavour Mining plc (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV,
OTCQX:EDVMF) (“Endeavour”, the “Group” or the “Company”) is pleased
to announce that wet commissioning activities are now underway at
the Sabodala-Massawa Expansion project (“BIOX® Expansion”) in
Senegal. The BIOX® Expansion project is on budget, with
construction now 91% complete, and the first gold pour is expected
on schedule, in early May.
Ian Cockerill, CEO, commented: “We are extremely
pleased with our progress as we start wet commissioning at the
BIOX® Expansion project. Importantly, we have achieved this
milestone with no lost-time injuries having worked more than 3
million man hours, which is a testament to the strong safety
culture that is a hallmark of our in-house construction teams.
At completion, Sabodala-Massawa will become a
true top tier asset with 2024 production of up to 400koz at an
industry leading AISC of less than $850/oz, with costs expected to
improve further in the coming years, embedding the mine firmly in
the lowest cost quartile.
This year, Endeavour is well positioned to
transition from a phase of investment in organic growth, to a more
cash flow generative phase in the second half of the year. This
inflection point will allow us to focus our efforts on increasing
our shareholder returns while de-levering our balance sheet, as we
continue to execute on our strategy.”
Wet commissioning of the BIOX®
Expansion was delivered in less than 23 months after construction
was launched in April 2022. During construction activities, up to
1,300 employees and contractors were on site, 82% of whom were
Senegalese nationals, successfully completing over three million
man-hours with zero lost time injuries.
The addition of the 1.2Mtpa BIOX® Expansion,
with an initial capital cost of $290 million, is expected to add
194koz per annum of incremental production over the first five
years, lifting Sabodala-Massawa to top-tier status with expected
production of 360-400koz at an AISC of between $750-850/oz in
FY-2024, increasing to above 400koz from 2025.
Please refer to the photos in the
attached press release to view the below figures.
Figure 1: BIOX® Expansion Project
overview highlighting construction activities at 91%
complete
Figure 2: Crushing circuit construction
is complete and wet commissioning of the primary jaw crusher is
underway
Figure 3: Miling circuit construction is
complete and wet commissioning of the ball mill (left) and the SAG
mill (right) is underway
Figure 4: Flotation circuit construction
is largely complete and sulphide concentrate is expected to be
delivered to the BIOX® circuit in early March
Figure 5: BIOX reactor wet commissioning
is underway with BIOX inoculum active and starting to fill the
first reactor
Figure 6: BIOX inoculum currently active
in the back-up reactor
Figure 7: CIL tank construction is
largely complete
Figure 8: Elution and electrowinning
circuit construction is largely complete with wet commissioning
planned for early March
Figure 9: Gold room construction is
largely complete with first gold pour expected in early
May
Figure 10: Tailings storage faility
("TSF") 1b comprsing two HDPE lined cells has been
completed
Figure 11: 18MW HFO power plant
expansion was completed and successfully energised during Q4-2023,
increasing the capacity of the existing power plant by
50%
ABOUT THE SABODALA-MASSAWA
MINE
The Sabodala-Massawa mine was acquired by
Endeavour in February 2021, as part of its acquisition of Teranga.
Endeavour owns a 90% stake in the Sabodala-Massawa mine, with
the remaining 10% owned by the Government of Senegal.
Located approximately 630 km east-southeast
of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, the Sabodala-Massawa
mine consists of several open pit operations on the highly
prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt. Non-refractory ore is treated
at a 4.0Mtpa CIL plant that achieved commercial production in
November 2009. In 2021, Endeavour expedited the completion of the
initial upgrades at the existing CIL plant and simultaneously
advanced the definitive feasibility study for the addition of a
refractory ore processing plant to confirm the economic viability
of processing the high-grade refractory ores from the Massawa
Central Zone and Massawa North Zone deposits. In 2022, Endeavour
launched the construction of the 1.2Mtpa BIOX® circuit to process
the large refractory ore resource with first gold expected in early
May 2024. As at 31 December 2022, Proven and Probable reserves
totalled 62.8Mt at 2.02 g/t containing 4.1Moz of gold and Measured
and Indicated resources (inclusive of reserves) totalled 106.1Mt at
1.86 g/t containing 6.3Moz of gold. For the full year ended 31
December 2023, Sabodala-Massawa produced 294koz at an AISC of
$767/oz. For FY-2024, Sabodala-Massawa is expected to produce
between 360-400koz at an AISC of between $750-850/oz.
Sabodala-Massawa is Endeavour’s largest
exploration focus this year with a guided spend of $21 million, or
31% of total Group exploration expenditure for the year. The
exploration programme is focussed on expanding non-refractory and
refractory resources for the existing CIL processing plant and the
new BIOX® Expansion respectively. The exploration programme remains
on track to achieve its 5-year target of discovering an additional
2.3-2.7Moz of Indicated resources by the end of 2025.
QUALIFIED PERSONS
Mark Morcombe, COO of Endeavour Mining PLC., a
Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, is a
"Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has
reviewed and approved the technical information in this news
release.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Jack GarmanVice President, Investor
Relations+442030112723jackgarman@endeavourmining.com |
Brunswick Group LLP in LondonCarole Cable,
Partner+442074045959ccable@brunswickgroup.com |
ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING
CORPORATION
Endeavour Mining is one of the world’s senior
gold producers and the largest in West Africa, with operating
assets across Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso and a strong
portfolio of advanced development projects and exploration assets
in the highly prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt across West
Africa.
A member of the World Gold Council, Endeavour is
committed to the principles of responsible mining and delivering
sustainable value to its employees, stakeholders and the
communities where it operates. Endeavour is listed on the London
and Toronto Stock Exchanges, under the symbol EDV.
For more information, please visit
www.endeavourmining.com.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This news release contains "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of applicable securities
laws. All statements, other than statements of historical
fact, are "forward-looking statements". Generally, these
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected",
"budgeted", "forecasts", and "anticipates".
Forward-looking statements, while based on
management's best estimates and assumptions, are subject to risks
and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially
different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements, including but not limited to: risks related to the
successful integration of acquisitions; risks related to
international operations; risks related to general economic
conditions and credit availability, actual results of current
exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes
in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations
in prices of metals including gold; fluctuations in foreign
currency exchange rates, increases in market prices of mining
consumables, possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery
rates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as
anticipated; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and
limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining
industry; delays in the completion of development or construction
activities, changes in national and local government regulation of
mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and political and
economic developments in countries in which Endeavour operates.
Although Endeavour has attempted to identify important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors
that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Please refer to Endeavour's most recent Annual
Information Form filed under its profile at www.sedar.com for
further information respecting the risks affecting Endeavour and
its business.
- 240227 - NR - BIOX Wet Commissioning
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