TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – West Africa-focused Endeavour Mining on Monday announced that it had declared commercial production at its Agbaou gold mine, in Côte d'Ivoire, after successfully commissioning the processing plant.

The TSX- and ASX-listed company also announced on Monday that it had signed a ‘mining convention’ with the State of Côte d'Ivoire that included a strong stability clause outlining fiscal conditions, and including gold royalty rates and a corporate tax holiday.

The convention would govern important aspects of the relationship between the State and Agbaou Gold Operations, Endeavour's 85%-owned subsidiary.

Endeavour said the negotiated terms were similar to those of other operating gold mines in Côte d'Ivoire and consistent with Endeavour's expectations when the decision to proceed with construction was taken in June 2012. This included a gold price-dependent sliding scale from 3% to 5% for royalties; a corporate tax holiday that would see the Agbaou mine qualify for five years from the start of commercial gold production; and a strong stability clause defining fiscal parameters for the duration of the mining permit.

The holds a 10% stake in the mine, and its mining development company, Sodemi, owns 5%. Other operations in the country included Randgold Resources' Tongon mine, Newcrest Mining's Bonikro and La Mancha's Ity gold mine.

“Declaring commercial production at Agbaou marks the successful completion of an 18-month construction period. Endeavour will now benefit from Agbaou's low-cost gold production. Agbaou was completed safely, ahead of schedule, and under our $160-million capital budget,” Endeavour CEO Neil Woodyer said.

Endeavour declared commercial production at the mine after the process plant achieved about 125% of its design throughput and gold recovery exceeded 94% over the previous 30 days.

Agbaou was expected to produce between 85 000 oz and 95 000 oz in its first 12 months of the current eight-year mine life.