Endeavour increases its stake in the Fetekro gold project
ABIDJAN – Endeavour Mining has announced that it has increased its stake in the Fetekro Project in Côte d’Ivoire, ahead of a Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) which is due to be published in Q1-2021.
Under the terms of the agreement, once the mining permit is granted, Endeavour will be entitled to an 80% stake in the Fetekro Project, compared to 65% currently, while SODEMI (the state-owned mining company) and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire will each have a 10% stake. Endeavour will retain the full ownership of the Fetekro exploration license until such time as it is converted into a mining license.
Sébastien de Montessus, President and CEO, commented: “We are delighted to have concluded this agreement with our long-standing government partners, in a manner which allows all stakeholders to benefit from the value we expect to continue to unlock at Fetekro.
“We believe that we have the opportunity to develop Fetekro into a cornerstone asset for Endeavour, which we define as assets with the potential to produce more than 200,000 ounces per annum over 10 years at low AISC. Fetekro has significant exploration potential, an already defined large-scale deposit with straightforward metallurgy and high gold recovery.
“It also benefits from being located close to existing infrastructure and requires only minimal relocation. We are eager to complete the PFS, which is expected to build on the PEA we recently published based on only half of the current resource, to demonstrate further the robust economics of the project.”
Endeavour acquired the additional stake from SODEMI for a consideration of $19 million plus contingent payments of $3 per ounce for future Proven and Probable reserves defined outside of the existing Measured and Indicated resource boundary. The contingent payment is based on a gold price of $1,450 per ounce and will be adjusted upwards or downwards in a linear relationship with the gold price.
ABOUT THE FETEKRO PROJECT
Located in north-central Côte d’Ivoire, within the northern end of the Oumé-Fetekro Greenstone Belt, the Fetekro Project is approximately 500km from Abidjan and close to existing infrastructure, including sealed roads and grid power.
Endeavour began exploration at Fetekro in March 2017, with the Lafigué deposit as the primary target. A maiden resource for Lafigué was published on October 29, 2018 and was updated on September 3, 2019 and again on August 18, 2020. The latest resource update resulted in a 108% increase in Indicated resources to 2.5Moz at an average grade of 2.40 g/t Au.
A PFS is expected to be published in Q1-2021 and will be based on the updated 2.5Moz Indicated resource and will define a production scenario based on a 3.0Mtpa mill throughput (compared to 1.5Mtpa for the PEA). Given its strong exploration potential, Endeavour believes that Fetekro has the potential to become a cornerstone asset with a production target of +200koz per annum over 10 years at a low AISC.
The mining permitting process is well underway, with the environmental study completed and submitted. Receipt of the environmental permit is expected in early 2021, following which the exploitation license application will be submitted.
To date, only a small portion of the Fetekro property has been explored, as the priority has been the Lafigué deposit, which remains open at depth and along strike. Several additional exploration targets have been identified within 10km from Lafigué, which have had limited drilling of just 7,050 meters.
