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34 www.resourceworld.com D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 5 MINING D epending on the time horizon selected, gold is either in the midst of a long term bull market, or suffering under the constraints of a three-year bear market. Investors holding mining stocks will be quick to point out the bear case. Many producing gold miners are having a very difficult time turning a profit, even with gold hovering above the US $1,200/oz pla- teau. Endeavour Mining Corp. [EDV-TSX; EDVMF-OTCQX; EVR-ASX] stands out for its ability to prosper as a beneficiary of the chaotic price regime. The company began the transition to become a gold miner back in 2009 when the market was in the midst of the last great unwind. After gold had plunged below US $800/oz, on the spot market, many market observers predicted the end of the golden bull. This provided the ideal backdrop for a value play and in 2010 Endeavour Mining was able to wade in and complete mine acquisitions around which to build a company. The subsequent rebound for gold quickly confirmed the soundness of the strategy. In the years after, Endeavour Mining's ability to improve the efficiency of its operating mines and build organic growth built the company's reputation for strong management. It suffices to say, that with the gold mining sector once again enduring a steep decline, no one at Endeavour Mining is running around with their hair on fire. The company was built to thrive in these conditions and appears to be doing just fine. Take for example the performance of the Agbaou Mine, located in Côte d'Ivoire. This project is one of four producing mines con- trolled by Endeavour in Africa. Agbaou is an open pit mine that recently commenced production. While most mine development projects are subject to a learning curve and often require fine tuning of operations to achieve planned performance, Agbaou has been able to generate strong results from the launch pad. Endeavour reported, in October, that mine output, average grade, and metal- lurgical performance at the recovery plant, have all exceeded expectations. This tri- fecta has also come with extremely low cash costs, again, well below expectations. In addition, the company has been active on the exploration front and reported suc- cessful drilling work with the objective to expand the total mineral inventory for the mine, allowing this higher level of extrac- tion to continue for a longer mine life. In the first three quarters of operations this year, Agbaou has already generated gold production approaching 100,000 ounces, nearly achieving the production guidance for the full year. This perfor- mance contributed much of the record gold production level reported by Endeavour this year for its total output from all mines. At its Tabakoto Mine in Mali, the com- pany has also been working to improve efficiency. The project was initially an open pit mine and recently commenced more costly and challenging underground operations. However the ore grades are also higher from the underground feed, present- ing the opportunity to increase production and improve operating margins. Endeavour wasn't satisfied with the cost structure using a contractor for mining activity at this project and recently took over the mining opera- tions themselves. The company also completed a plant expan- sion to enable processing capacity to double. The combination of higher throughput and higher ore grades is contributing ENdEavour MiNiNG looking to exceed production targets Endeavour Mining's Agbaou recovery plant in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. Photo credit: Altamont Productions.