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Ity carbon-in-leach project, Côte d'Ivoire

20th October 2017

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Name of the Project
Ity carbon-in-leach (CIL) project.

Location
Côte d’Ivoire.

Client
Endeavour Mining.

Project Description
An optimisation study on the project has significantly improved the previous feasibility study results published in November 2016, and has positioned the project as Endeavour’s next long-life, low-cost flagship asset.

The project’s reserves have increased from 41-million tonnes grading 1.42 g/t gold in the 2016 feasibility study to 57-million tonnes grading 1.57 g/t gold in the optimisation study.

The key change to the design in the optimisation study is the increase in the CIL process plant nameplate design from three-million tonnes a year to four-million tonnes a year to better capture the value created from the recent exploration success, which discovered the Bakatouo deposit and increased resources at Daapleu and Mont/Ity Flat.

Soluble copper from the Bakatouo asset will be blended with the low-copper Daapleu ore into the plant process schedule until the depletion of Bakatouo. A maximum process plant feed limit of 200 parts per million cyanide-soluble copper constraint has been set to manage cyanide consumption within the CIL plant and detoxification circuit.

The process plant will comprise single-stage primary crushing to produce a crushed product size of 80% passing (P80 of 166 mm) and a two-stage semiautogenous (SAG)/ball milling in closed circuit with hydrocyclones to produce a P80 grind size of 75 μm. A gravity concentrator and intensive leach reactor have been included in the design in accordance with the feasibility study.

The CIL circuit comprises eight CIL tanks (up from six in the feasibility study) containing carbon for gold and silver adsorption, with oxygen sparged from two 25-t-pressure swing adsorption oxygen plants and an 18 t split Anglo elution

circuit.

Electrowinning and induction furnace smelting will complete the gold doré production process. A cyanide detoxification and arsenic removal circuit is included in the process facility design for treatment of process residue before discharge to the fully lined 57-million-tonne tailings storage facility, located adjacent to the processing facility.

Other changes made in the optimisation study include:
• the addition of a diverter/flop-gate system, which enables the ball mill to run independently during periods when the SAG mill is shut down – this operability enables the plant to maximise use and effectively ensure process milling all year round;
• the addition of a 26 MW full backup power station, identical to the one installed at the Houndé project;
• optimised upfront capital cost and sequenced overall build time, with a higher percentage of ‘self-perform’ works; and
• the optimisation of the site layout, which enables the current heap-leach operation to run independently of the CIL project.

In addition, several changes have been made to leverage construction and operating synergies between Ity and Endeavour’s Agbaou and Houndé operations.

The mining sequence and stockpile management have improved in the optimised study, compared with the 2016 feasibility study. Whereas previously the mining period was nine years followed by the processing of stockpiled low-grade ore for another five years, the current mine plan is based on 12 years of mining followed by the processing of stockpiled low-grade ore for another two years.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Based on a gold price of $1 250/oz, the optimisation study has estimated an after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $710-million, compared with $411-million in the 2016 feasibility study. The internal rate of return has increased from 35.9% in the feasibility study to 40.3% in the optimisation study.

The project has a payback of 1.8 years.

Value
The cost of the project has increased from $307-million to $412-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Endeavour mining has approved the construction of the project.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Endeavour Mining VP: strategy and investor relations Martino De Ciccio, tel +44 203 640 8665 or
email mdeciccio@endeavourmining.com.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Magazine Managing Editor

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