Endeavour restarts Burkina Faso’s Boungou

The company has successfully restarted the mine, which it acquired through the Semafo acquisition on July 1, and has confirmed potential synergies of $35-million to $40-million during the integration process. About 60% of the synergies would be progressively unlocked by the end of 2020 and the remaining in 2021, the miner stated.

Semafo halted operations at Boungou after a 2019 attack on a convoy of buses with mine personnel on a public road to the mine. Thirty-seven people died in the attack.

Following the acquisition, Endeavour has implemented a range of infrastructure improvements and new security and operating procedures for the mining restart programme.

Endeavour president and CEO Sebastien de Montessus said on Thursday that the resumption of mining operations at Boungou marked a significant milestone in the integration of Endeavour and Semafo.

“The newly acquired assets are now well embedded into our West African operating model, which is centred on an agile and streamlined management approach, based on empowered decision making at the mine level with shared regional support functions.

“In addition to the significant procurement, supply chain, and G&A savings, we are also seeing the benefits of softer synergies that arise from being the largest gold producer in Burkina Faso, such as a further strengthening of our partnership with the government and an enhanced ability to manage risks across the business,” he said in a statement.

The Boungou plant has been processing stockpiles since early 2020.

Endeavour said the Boungou mine would achieve the top half of its 2020 production guidance of 130 000 oz to 150 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of $680/oz to $725/oz.

West African mining contractor SFTP Mining, which provides services at Endeavour’s Karma mine, is also the contractor for Boungou. The mine will employ about 1 100 people, including sub-contractors.

Exploration activities are expected to resume in the fourth quarter, targeting near-mill targets.