Endeavour acquired the Sabodala-Massawa complex in February 2021, which included the Sabodala mill and deposits and the nearby Massawa deposits, the largest undeveloped open-pit project in Africa. Massawa is located within trucking distance of Sabodala, creating the opportunity for significant capital and operating synergies.
The integration and expansion of the Sabodala-Massawa complex involves supplementing the current 4.2 Mtpa carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant with a 1.2 Mtpa BIOX® (biological oxidation) plant to process the high-grade refractory ores from the Massawa deposits.
Following delivery of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) and Early Works, Lycopodium was subsequently awarded the Engineering and Procurement (EP) and associated Project Management (PM) services, with project construction commencing in Q2 2022.
The new plant includes primary crushing, crushed ore stockpile and reclaim, grinding including pebble crushing, gravity gold recovery, flotation, concentrate regrind, BIOX® circuit, CIL circuit, detoxification circuit and gold room. The first gold pour from the BIOX® plant was achieved in April 2024.
