UK-based Endeavour Mining has completed its first gold pour at the Lafigué mine in the northern part of the Oumé-Fetekro greenstone belt in north-central Côte d’Ivoire.

Since the commencement of wet commissioning in May 2024, the Lafigué processing plant has processed approximately 77,000 tonnes of ore.

The plant’s first gold pour yielded around 380oz from both the gravity and CIL circuits.

Endeavour anticipates the Lafigué mine will reach commercial production and its full capacity of 4mtpa in Q3 2024.

Endeavour owns an 80% stake in the mine, with the remaining 20% split between the Ivorian Government and SODEMI, a state-owned mining company.

Furthermore, Endeavour fully owns the broader Fetekro exploration licence.

The company commenced construction on the project in the last quarter of 2022 following a definitive feasibility study (DFS).

As per the estimates, Lafigué mine has proven and probable reserves of 49.8mt at 1.69 grams per tonne (g/t), containing 2.7 million ounces (moz) of gold, as of 31 December 2023.

Additionally, measured and indicated resources, inclusive of reserves, stood at 46.2mt at 2.04g/t, containing 3.0moz of gold.

Endeavour CEO Ian Cockerill said: “We are proud to have achieved our first gold pour at Lafigué, which, alongside the first gold pour at the Sabodala-Massawa BIOX expansion that we achieved in April, marks the successful completion of the recent phase of investment and growth that we started in Q2 2022.

“We now begin a new phase of increased free cash flow generation, de-levering and enhanced shareholder returns.

“In less than eight years we have transformed Lafigué from a discovery to production, creating a cornerstone asset that has the potential to produce over 200koz per year, at an industry leading all-in sustaining cost of approximately $900/oz for at least 13 years, improving the quality of our existing portfolio.”

The company now plans to focus on ramping up production at the Lafigué mine.