Endeavour targets discovery of 12-15 million ounces of resources over the next 5 years
Endeavour’s brownfield exploration programme is targeting between 6 – 9Moz of mineral resources at a discovery cost of less than $40 per ounce, screening approximately 50 targets across 7,000km2 of exploration tenure in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Burkina Faso. Focused on areas surrounding existing operations, the programme is designed to replace ounces depleted through production, extend the lives of current mines, and maintain or improve reserve and resource grades to ensure consistently high ore quality.
Of the 6 – 9Moz target across the 50 targets within the brownfield portfolio, 5.0 – 7.5Moz are expected to be discovered in close proximity to our existing mines, while 1.0 – 1.5Moz are expected to be discovered at, or in close proximity to, the Assafou development project.
Endeavour employs a sophisticated ranking methodology that initially evaluates prospective resources based on their quality, proximity to the processing plant and timeline to development. Resource quality examines the potential grade, size, and metallurgical recovery rates to ensure brownfield targets are accretive to the proximal mine and amenable to the process plant. Proximity to the processing facility and to existing infrastructure is considered in conjunction with resource quality. Timing is also considered to ensure targets are complimentary to the current mine plans.
Greenfield Exploration Programme
The greenfield programme’s ambitious goal is to discover 6Moz of mineral resources and between 2 to 3 new tier 1 greenfield deposits over the 2026 – 2030 period, replacing the tier 1 Assafou deposit in the Company’s pipeline, using two complementary approaches.
Firstly, greenfield exploration will be accelerated within West Africa, focussed on seeking to identify the next large, low-cost and long mine-life asset that can be added to the Group’s attractive organic growth pipeline. Secondly, greenfield exploration will focus on identifying targets within highly prospective and relatively immature geological terrains outside of West Africa, across three tier 1 gold provinces; the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), the Guiana Shield and the West Tethyan Metallogenic Belt. Unlike brownfield resource discovery targets, which are supported by existing geological data and prior exploration data, the greenfield mineral resource discovery targets are more conceptual in nature and contain an elevated degree of uncertainty.
From a jurisdictional standpoint, the Company prioritises regions with transparent legal frameworks, established mining sectors, and existing infrastructure that enable quick project development. Beyond the technical criteria, potential paths to entry, including whether to form partnerships with local companies or acquire properties directly, are also considered.
Targets within these provinces must demonstrate the potential to host deposits of significant scale, high technical likelihood of a mineral system and low exploration maturity.
