Wet commissioning activities are now under way at the Sabodala-Massawa Expansion project, also called the BIOX Expansion project, in Senegal, says London- and Toronto-listed Endeavour Mining.

The project is 91% complete, with the first gold pour scheduled for early May, as expected.

“We are extremely pleased with our progress as we start wet commissioning at the BIOX Expansion project. Importantly, we have achieved this milestone with no lost-time injuries, having worked more than three million man-hours, which is a testament to the strong safety culture that is a hallmark of our in-house construction teams.

"At completion, Sabodala-Massawa will become a true top-tier asset, with 2024 production of up to 400 000 oz of gold at an industry-leading all-in sustaining cost of less than $850/oz, with costs expected to improve further in the coming years, embedding the mine firmly in the lowest-cost quartile," Endeavour CEO Ian Cockerill comments.

Endeavour acquired a 90% interest in the Sabodala-Massawa mine in February 2021, as part of its acquisition of Teranga Gold Corporation. The remaining 10% of the mine is held by the Senegal government.

The mine comprises several openpit operations on the highly prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt, with non-refractory ore treated at a four-million-tonne-a-year carbon-in-leach plant.

Endeavour in 2021 assessed the economic viability of processing the high-grade refractory ore from the Massawa Central and Massawa North zone deposits and, in April 2022, launched the $290-million construction of a 1.2-million-tonne-a-year BIOX circuit to process the refractory ore.

The expansion is expected to add 194 000 oz/y of incremental production over the first five years. Endeavour points out that production for 2024, from the expansion project, is expected to be between 360 000 oz and 4000 000 oz at an AISC of between $750/oz and $850/oz.

Production is anticipated to increase above 400 000 oz from 2025.

"This year, Endeavour is well positioned to transition from a phase of investment in organic growth, to a more cash flow generative phase in the second half of the year. This inflection point will allow us to focus our efforts on increasing our shareholder returns, while de-levering our balance sheet, as we continue to execute on our strategy," says Cockerill.

In addition to Sabodala-Massawa, Endeavour also owns and operates the Ity mine, in Côte d'Ivoire, the Houndé and Mana mines, in Burkina Faso, and the Lafigué development project, in Côte d'Ivoire.