Endeavour Mining hails 'major discovery' in Cote D'Ivoire

The company said a major maiden resource has been outlined in under 15 months on the Assafou target. It has indicated resource of 14.9m tonnes of ore at 2.33 grams per tonne for 1.1m ounces. There is an inferred resource within this of 32.9m tonnes at 1.80grams per tonne for 1.9m ounces.

Endeavour said "significant exploration" potential exists at the Assafou deposit, which is located over a structural trend extending over 15km and remaining open in all directions with at least 10 additional exploration targets identified nearby.

To delineate further resources at Assafou and test new targets, the company is preparing to launch an aggressive 70,000-metre drilling programme next year.

President and chief executive Sebastien de Montessus said: "We are thrilled with the maiden resource at our Tanda-Iguela greenfield property in Côte d’Ivoire.

"It ranks as one of the most significant discoveries made in West Africa over the last decade and shows potential to be another flagship asset for the company.

"With this new important discovery and exploration success across our portfolio, we are well on track to achieve our target of discovering between 15 to 20m ounces for the 5-year period ending in 2025."