Name of the Project
Sabodala-Massawa gold mine expansion.

Location
About 630 km east-southeast of Dakar, in Senegal.

Project Owner/s
Endeavour Mining acquired a 90% interest in the Sabodala-Massawa mine in February 2021, as part of its acquisition of Teranga Gold Corporation. The remaining 10% of the mine is held by the Senegalese government.

Project Description
The mine comprises several openpit operations on the highly prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt. 

Nonrefractory ore is treated at a four-million-tonne-a-year carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant that achieved commercial production in November 2009. 

Endeavour expedited the completion of the initial upgrades at the existing CIL plant in 2021 while advancing the definitive feasibility study for the addition of a refractory ore processing plant to confirm the economic viability of processing the high-grade refractory ores from the Massawa Central Zone and Massawa North Zone deposits. 

Endeavour launched the construction of the 1.2-million-tonne-a-year BIOX circuit in 2022 to process the large refractory ore resource. The expansion is expected to add 194 000 oz/y of incremental production over the first five years. Production is anticipated to increase above 400 000 oz from 2025.

Potential Job Creation
The project has a workforce of 1 640 people.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate and $1 700/oz gold price, of $1.13-million and an internal rate of return of 83%, with a payback of 1.3 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project is estimated at $290-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First gold pour from the BIOX plant is expected in 2024.

Latest Developments
Endeavour Mining announced the first gold pour, yielding about 612 oz of gold, on April 28. This also marks the successful delivery of the BIOX expansion project on schedule and on budget, with no lost-time injuries. The first gold pour from the gravity circuit was completed on April 18 and yielded about 112 oz of gold.

The first gold pour at the expansion was achieved only 24 months after construction started, transforming the Sabodala-Massawa Complex into a tier-one mine.

Since the start of wet commissioning in February, about 50 000 t of ore have been processed through the BIOX expansion, with the processing plant operating in line with expectations. Commercial production is expected late in the second quarter, with the project to ramp up to its nameplate capacity of 1.2-million tonnes a year in the third quarter.

The largest group exploration programme is planned at Sabodala-Massawa this year, with a spend of $21-million, focused on resource-to-reserve conversion and adding near-mine refractory and nonrefractory resources.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Lycopodium Minerals (DFS); Minescope Services (consulting on the process plant); Metso-Outotec (BIOX and milling technology); Land and Marine Geological Services (design and execution of the tailings storage facility); QGE (power station expansion engineering services and management of the delivery of the power station expansion by an original-equipment manufacturer on a lump-sum turnkey basis).

Contact Details for Project Information
Endeavour Mining, tel +44 203 011 2723 or email info@endeavourmining.com.