West Africa-focused miner Endeavour Gold has reached the 85%-complete mark in building the Houndé mine, in Burkina Faso, after receiving and starting installation of the longest lead time item, the semi-autogenous grinding mill. Endeavour, which expects to produce between 600 000 oz and 640 000 oz of gold this year – excluding Houndé, which is expected to produce first gold in the fourth quarter – reported on Tuesday that all procurement has now been completed, reducing cost over-run risk, and with less than $120-million out of the forecast $327-million total project capital expenditures remaining to be spent, representing less than 35% of the remaining budget.
