TSX-listed Endeavour Mining produced 147 000 oz of gold in the second quarter, taking output for the first half of the year to 299 000 oz.

The gold miner on Wednesday reported that it is on track to meet its full-year guidance of between 555 000 oz and 590 000 oz.

This excludes production at the Tabokoto mine, in Mali.

Influencing the higher production, the company said, was the continuous operations which significantly increased output in the second quarter, the addition of the Houndé mine, in Burkina Faso, and an increase at the Ity mine, in Côte d’Ivoire, owing to higher grades.

This more than offset the expected declines at Agbaou, in Côte d’Ivoire, owing to temporary lower grades, as mining focussed on waste capitalisation, and Karma, in Burkina Faso, owing to a temporary change in the ore type.

Additionally, Endeavour pointed out that the Tabakoto strategic assessment completed in the second quarter demonstrated the potential to reduce the mine’s all-in sustaining cost (AISC), mainly through capital investment to renew the underground fleet.

However, these investments do not meet Endeavour’s capital allocation criteria and, therefore, the gold miner has launched a sales process with nonbinding offers having already been received.

Inclusive of Tabakoto, group production amounted to 174 000 oz in the second quarter and 358 000 oz for the first half.

The group’s AISC from continuing operations amounted to $780/oz in the second quarter, and $732/oz for the first half of the year, placing Endeavour on track to meet its full-year guidance of between $760/oz and $810/oz.

AISC from continuing operations decreased significantly in the second quarter compared with the prior comparable period, mainly owing to the addition of Houndé and a decrease at Ity, owing to better grades, which more than offset the anticipated increases at Agbaou, which were owing to a harder ore mix and lower grade, and Karma, which was owing to temporary lower grade and lower recovery.

The group AISC, inclusive of Tabakoto, amounted to $878/oz in the first quarter of the year, and $825/oz for the first half, which is also on track to meet the gold miner’s full-year guidance of between $840/oz and $890/oz. 

These results, Endeavour president and CEO Sébastien de Montessus reiterated, show that Endeavour is tracking well against all of its key performance metrics, most notable of which is its AISC, while remaining on track to meet its full-year guidance.

Construction progress at the Ity carbon-in-leach (CIL) project remains on time and on budget, he added, as the company continues to anticipate first gold pour by mid-2019.

This, he added, is an important project for Endeavour, which, along with Houndé, has the potential to deliver step-change improvements across key metrics. 

“We also continued to deliver strong exploration success, notably with the announced discoveries at Houndé in the Kari area where we anticipate a maiden resource for the Kari Pump target by year-end,” De Montessus commented, adding that Endeavour has significantly progressed its standalone greenfield exploration targets where it expects to start generating maiden resources later this year.  

“We believe that we are very well positioned to meet our 2019 strategic objective of achieving an annual production of more than 800 000 oz at an AISC of below $800/oz and with a visibility of more than ten years, as set in early 2016,” De Montessus said, noting that this confidence is owing to the important strategic milestones already achieved, which include the start-up of Houndé, the sale of the noncore Youga and Nzema mines, the purchase of the Karma mine and Kalana project, and the important exploration success achieved, notably at Ity.

Upcoming milestones include the sale of Tabakoto, the start-up of Ity CIL and delineating the significant recent discoveries made at Houndé.