Africa-focused gold miner Endeavour Mining has announced a one-million-ounce indicated maiden resource for the Kari West and Kari Centre discoveries at its Houndé mine, in Burkina Faso.

As a result, Houndé’s measured and indicated resources have increased by 32% from 3.1-million ounces to 4.1-million ounces, excluding 2019 depletion.

“We are very pleased with the maiden resource delineated at Kari West and Kari Centre, which has exceeded our expectations. As part of our strategic exploration plan, we were initially targeting a minimum of 500 000 oz at over 2.5 g/t gold, which ultimately became 590 000 oz at 2.55 g/t gold based on a 1.5 g/t gold cut-off for Kari West.

"Due to a low strip ratio of roughly 6:1, we were able to delineate more ounces, increasing the total for Kari West and Kari Centre to one-million ounces at a grade of 1.61 g/t gold based on a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t gold,” Endeavour executive VP for exploration and growth Patrick Bouisset commented in a statement issued on Monday.

"The resources at Kari West and Kari Centre were both discovered at an industry-leading low cost of $15/oz, underscoring why investment in exploration continues to be a key strategic priority for Endeavour as we build a sustainable business and deliver long-term value for our shareholders,” Endeavour president and CEO Sébastien de Montessus added.

Bouisset further noted that, as a result of an intensive infill drilling programme, 84% of the maiden total resource for Kari West and Kari Centre had been classified in the indicated category, with the potential to convert additional inferred resources to the indicated category.

"The orebodies have favourable mining characteristics since they are amenable to openpit mining, with mineralisation starting at surface.

"They are expected to have low strip ratios, with the indicated resource pit shell strip ratio amounting to 6.2:1 and 5.5:1 for Kari West and Kari Centre respectively. In addition, the maiden resource brings significant oxide and transition ore additions, representing about 30% and 75% of the respective Kari West and Kari Centre indicated resource," he said.

Endeavour would soon start another 145 000 m drilling programme which would be focused on extending the mineralisation of the Kari discoveries and testing other nearby targets located within 10 km of the processing facility.