LBMA liaising with CME Group and US authorities on gold premium
London gold market stocks and liquidity remain strong, the association added.
Fourth-quarter production for Endeavour Mining (LSE: EDV; TSX: EDV) gained more than a third over the previous three months , while cash costs fell by double digits. Shares gained 4.5% on Thursday.
Higher grades and throughput after the end of the regional wet season helped gold production increase by 34% to 363,000 oz., the West Africa-focused gold miner said Thursday. Total production for the year was 3% higher than in 2023, according to its preliminary fiscal report.
Final quarter cash costs fell 13% versus the three months to Sept. 30 after lower spending at the Houndé and Mana mines in Burkina Faso and at Lafigué in Côte d’Ivoire. Higher gold sales helped.
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) declined by 11% over the third quarter to about $1,140 per ounce. Full-year production of 1.1 million oz. at an AISC of about $1,220 per oz. were both above guidance.
For this year, Endeavour forecasts production growth to be 15% higher than last year, between 1.1 million to 1.2 million oz. at total costs of $950-$1,090 per oz. and AISC of $1,150-1,350 per ounce.
“(Last year) was a pivotal year for Endeavour,” CEO Ian Cockerill said in a release. He cited the commissioning of the Lafigué mine and Sabodala-Massawa BIOX expansion project in Senegal, and a preliminary feasibility study (PFS) for the Assafou project in Côte d’Ivoire.
“(We also) significantly increased our free cash flow generation through the year, supporting record dividends for our shareholders.”
Endeavour shares traded for C$29.52 apiece on Thursday at mid-day, for a market capitalization of C$7.2 billion. Its shares traded in a 52-week range of C$21.11 to C$34.84.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Raj Ray said in a note on Thursday the fiscal results would have a “slight positive” impact.
The company’s fourth-quarter production was higher than expected, with costs and AISC guidance as forecast, Ray said. Endeavour declared a dividend for the second half of 2024 of $140 million, which entailed shareholder returns of $277 million, Ray noted, adding that the company has reached the free cash flow point, which “should bode well for the share price re-rating.”
The dividends, which touched a record for Endeavour, came to $0.57 per share, bringing total dividends for last year to $240 million, or $0.98 per share.
Its shareholder returns were also supplemented through the company’s share buyback program, where $37 million, or 1.8 million shares, were repurchased last year. In the fourth quarter, $8 million or 400,000 shares were repurchased.
The PFS for the Assafou project, located on Endeavour’s Tanda Iguela property, outlined a potential tier-one asset with an estimated annual output of 329,000 oz. in the first 10 years of a 15-year life.
The study gave the project an after-tax net present value (at 5% discount) of $1.5 billion and an internal rate of return of 28% at an average gold price of $2,000 per ounce.
Exploration last year helped convert 90% of Assafou’s measured and indicated resources into a 4.1-million-oz. reserve grading 1.76 grams gold per tonne.
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