Endeavour beats 2018 production forecast

Endeavour Mining (TSX: EDV; US-OTC: EDVMF) produced 52% more gold in 2018 than it did in 2017, exceeding the upper end of its full-year guidance.

The company produced 612,000 oz. gold in 2018, up from 403,000 oz. gold the year before. (It had previously estimated producing no more than 590,000 oz. gold in 2018.)

At the same time, Endeavour’s all-in sustaining costs (AISC) fell 4% in 2018 to $745 per oz. gold compared to $774 per oz. gold in 2017. That number also came in below 2018 guidance, which estimated the company’s AISC would be no lower than $760 per oz. gold.

The company expects its 2019 gold production to increase to 615,000 to 695,000 oz. gold and its AISC to remain in the $760 to $810 per oz. gold range. It should bolster production with its Ity carbon-in-leach mine expansion in Cote D’Ivoire, where it expects to pour first gold in 2019’s second quarter.

Endeavour produced more gold in 2018 from its Ity, Karma and Hounde gold mines than it did in 2017. Gold production fell in 2018 at its Agbaou gold mine to 141,000 oz. gold, compared to 177,000 oz. gold in 2017, although still landed within its 2018 production guidance at Agbaou of 140,000 to 150,000 oz. gold.

Gold production also fell at its Tabakoto gold mine from 144,000 oz. gold in 2017 to 115,000 oz. gold in 2018, although the company divested the asset in December 2018.

Shares of Endeavour Mining are currently trading at $20.51 with a 52-week range of $16.34 to $26.86. The company has a $2 billion market capitalization. It has committed to spending $45 million to $50 million on exploration in 2019.