PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner Endeavour Mining has submitted its preliminary economic assessment for its Hounde gold project, in Burkina Faso, which indicated that the project could produce as much as 161 000 oz/y of gold, over a ten-year life-of-mine.
Gold production could be maintained at a cost of less than $600/oz, Endeavour said on Wednesday.
The feasibility study for the Hounde project started in January this year, after Endeavour initiated an infill drilling campaign in October of last year with the aim of converting the in-pit inferred resource to measured and indicated status.
The drilling campaign was concluded in February, and Endeavour CEO Neil Woodyer said on Wednesday that the drill results would be incorporated into the feasibility study.
“Early completion of the infill drilling programme supports the completion of the feasibility study by the end of the year. With Agbaou construction on schedule, a seamless transition of our mine-building team from Agbaou to Hounde is planned in early 2014.”
Woodyer said that Endeavour’s gold production was forecast to be over 550 000 oz/y by 2016, including the completion of the Tabakoto mill expansion in 2013, and production start-ups at Agbaou in the first quarter of 2013, and Hounde in 2016.