TSX-listed Endeavour Mining on Monday confirmed that commercial production at its carbon-in-leach (CIL) project at Ity, in Côte d'Ivoire, is at its full nameplate capacity following a quick ramp-up phase.
Achieving commercial production at the Ity CIL project marked a “transformational moment” in Endeavour’s history and an inflection point as the miner significantly increased its free cash flow capabilities, CEO and president Sébastien de Montessus said in a statement.
The Ity CIL project began processing ore on February 20, and achieved its first gold pour on March 19.
Its performance trial testing was recently successfully completed with all key metrics meeting prescribed targets, including the processing rate exceeding 11 100 t/d, overall plant availability of 96% and a gold recovery rate of 94%.
Ity is expected to produce between 160 000 oz and 200 000 oz in 2019 at an all-in sustaining cost of between $525/oz and $590/oz, with the bottom-end of the production guidance corresponding to the four-million-tonne-a-year nameplate capacity, while the top-end already factored in upsides such as an earlier start date, an expedited ramp-up and the plant producing above its nameplate.