VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – West Africa-focused gold producer Endeavour Mining has made a significant gold discovery at its producing Ity mine, in Côte d'Ivoire, the company reported Wednesday.

Endeavour advised that the high-grade Bakatouo discovery is located close to the current Ity mining complex, and is considered to be the extension of the Zia Northeast and Walter deposits.

The Bakatouo discovery is located along the northern extension of those deposits and extends over 800 m along strike and 250 m across strike, while the extensions remain open at depth and along strike.

"Beyond continuing to build on our track record of being efficient operators and project builders in West Africa, a key focus of our growth and value creation strategy is to place more emphasis on exploration. As such, we are pleased with this first success and we are confident that we can continue to unlock exploration value across our portfolio,” stated CEO Sebastien de Montessus.

Some of the highlight intercepts included 9.65 m at 27.7 g/t, including 1.13 m at 133.7 g/t; 5.76 m at 17.9 g/t, including 0.54 m at 121.9 g/t; and 17.48 m at 6.4 g/t, including 1.08 m at 59.1 g/t.

The discovery is the result of a 165-hole diamond-drilling programme, totalling 20 417 m, completed in the third quarter, before the start of the rainy season. Endeavour plans to undertake a further drilling campaign in November on Bakatouo to test its extensions, while exploration is ongoing on other nearby targets.

A maiden Bakatouo resource estimate is expected in the fourth quarter.

Bakatouo's significant oxide mineralisation suggests the potential to supplement both the existing heap leach operation and the future carbon-in-leach project.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Endeavour also reported that it had consolidated an 80 km underexplored Birimian corridor on-trend with its Ity mine, significantly increasing its holdings in the Ity district from 178 km² to 664 km².