Fetekro is now similar in size and grade to that of the Agbaou mine, also in Côte d’Ivoire, when it started production in 2014, the company says.

Endeavour first began exploration on the Fetekro property in March 2017, following a strategic assessment of its exploration tenements which ranked the property as a top-priority target.

Most of the exploration so far at Fetekro has focused on the Lafigué target, where a maiden resource was published in October 2018 based on 32,000 metres drilled.

Since then approximately 35,000 metres have been drilled to infill and extend the Lafigué deposit, which led to a 0.7Moz increase in indicated resources while increasing the average grade by 13% to 2.54 g/t Au.

At least 30,000 metres of further drilling is scheduled to start in Q4 2019, results of which will be included in an updated resource that Endeavour expects to publish in Q2 2020.

At market close, Endeavours shares were up nearly 4% on the TSX. The company has a C$3 billion market capitalization.