Name of the Project
Houndé gold project.

Location
Within the Birimian greenstone belt, in Burkina Faso, just south of Semafo’s Mana mine and about 250 km south-west of the capital city, Ouagadougou.

Project Owner/s
Houndé Gold Operation, Endeavour Mining’s Burkina Faso operating subsidiary.

Project Description
With its robust grade and low cash costs, Houndé ranks among West Africa’s highest-quality gold development projects.

Endeavour Mining expects to produce an average of 190 000 oz/y at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $709/oz over the life-of-mine.

The processing plant consists of a three-million-tonne-a-year gravity circuit/carbon-in-leach plant with a semiautogenous ball crushing comminution circuit.

Additional infrastructure includes the construction of the 38-km-long, 91 kV overhead power line.

Potential Job Creation
More than 2 000 personnel, including contractors, are on site, more than 94% of whom are Burkinabe.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The internal rate of return has increased from the previously estimated 22.4% to 32% at a gold price of $1 250/oz.

The project’s after-tax net present value has been estimated at $359-million at the same gold price.

Capital Expenditure
The updated capital cost is estimated at $328-million, including contingency, working capital and import duties.

This represents a 3.2% increase over the $315-million estimate in the November 2013 feasibility study.

Planned Start/End Date
The Houndé mine achieved its first gold pour on October 18, 2017, and began processing ore ahead of schedule on September 25, 2018.

Latest Developments
High-voltage electrical data analytics business Voltvision has completed Phase 1 of a pioneering energy efficiency and operational enhancement project at Endeavour Mining’s Houndé mine.

The results of this initial phase have been so constructive that Voltvision has been commissioned to roll out the project to all Endeavour’s mines and development projects across West Africa, the company has said.

This project hinges on Voltvision’s Big Data software solution, a programme that has been designed by mining specialists and engineers to optimise energy consumption and improve predictive maintenance on all high-voltage equipment used at mine sites.

The software is coupled with a data extraction cube – a secure plug-and-play analytics device installed on a mine’s network.

This device extracts and transmits hundreds of energy-related data points to the cloud-based software using WiFi or fourth-generation telecommunications networks.

Phase 1 of the project started in December 2021 when the Cube device was remotely installed across Hounde’s high-voltage electrical network, with assistance from the Endeavour team.

The encouraging data recorded in this initial phase is a solid foundation for Phase 2, which is due to begin in May 2022.

Phase 2 is intended to identify further power savings opportunities, develop early warning mechanisms for grid outages, and extract demonstrable Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse-gas emission numbers.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Endeavour Mining, tel +44 203 640 8665 or email info@endeavourmining.com.