Endeavour restarts Boungou Gold Mine
Endeavour Mining has announced that mining operations have successfully restarted at its Boungou mine in Burkina Faso, following the mobilization of the West African mining contractor and completion of infrastructure and operating improvements.
In addition, Endeavour has reported that it has confirmed potential annual synergies of $35 to $40 million during its SEMAFO integration process. The identified synergies are in the areas of procurement and supply chain optimization, corporate and in-country G&A savings, centralization of technical services and functions across the group. It is estimated that 60% of these synergies will be progressively unlocked by year end 2020 and the remaining next year.
The Boungou plant has been processing stockpiles since early 2020. Following the acquisition on July 1, 2020, Endeavour has implemented a range of infrastructure improvements and new security and operating procedures for the mining restart program, as described in its September 1, 2020 press release.
As announced in early September, Endeavour awarded the mining contract to SFTP Mining BF S.A.R.L (SFTP), a West African mining contractor, who also provides mining services at Endeavour’s Karma mine.
SFTP immediately began to mobilize mining equipment and personnel and, to accelerate the restart, SFTP purchased a portion of the on-site fleet from the previous contractor. The mobilization of the remaining equipment is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
The Boungou mine and SFTP have prioritized local recruitment for the operations, with training currently in progress. The mine will employ approximately 1,100 people, including sub-contractors.
Mining activities to date have focused on extracting readily available ore with minimal drilling and blasting requirements. Grade control drilling began two weeks ago, with two rigs currently active, while blasting activities commenced last week.
During Q4-2020, mining activities are expected to focus on the West pits, while preparing the East pit for grade control drilling in 2021. Mining, drilling, and blasting activities are expected to continue to ramp up in the coming weeks to reach the contracted amount of approximately 2.0 – 2.3 million tonnes per month.
The Boungou mine is now expected to achieve the top half of its 2020 production guidance of 130-150koz at an AISC of $680-725/oz due to the addition of high-grade mill feed from freshly mined ore.
