AMN - COTE D’IVOIRE: Commercial production at Ity

Endeavour Mining Corporation has declared commercial production at its Ity CIL project in Côte d’Ivoire. The gold project is now operating at its full nameplate capacity following a quick ramp-up phase.

The Ity CIL project began processing ore on February 20, 2019, and achieved its first gold pour on March 19, 2019.

Performance trial testing was recently successfully completed with all key metrics meeting prescribed targets - processing rate exceeding 11,100 tonnes per day, overall plant availability of 96% and gold recovery rate of 94%.

Ity is expected to produce 160,000-200,000 ounces in 2019 at an AISC of $525-590 per ounce, with the bottom-end of the production guidance corresponding to the 4 million tonnes nameplate capacity while the top-end already factored in upsides such as an earlier start date, an expedited ramp-up and the plant producing above its nameplate.

Endeavour's president and CEO Sébastien de Montessus said: "I would like to congratulate the entire team for their hard work in helping us achieve this major accomplishment for Endeavour.

"Achieving commercial production at the Ity CIL project marks a transformational moment in our history and an inflection point as we significantly increase our free cash flow capabilities."

Endeavour Mining is a TSX-listed intermediate African gold producer with a solid track record of operational excellence, project development and exploration in the highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt in West Africa.

Endeavour operates four mines across Côte d'Ivoire (Agbaou and Ity) and Burkina Faso (Houndé and Karma) which are expected to produce 615,000-695,000 ounces in 2019 at an AISC of $760-810 per ounce. 

www.endeavourmining.com