LSE- and TSX-listed West Africa-focused gold miner Endeavour Mining reports that its gold production of 409 000 oz for the second quarter, ended June 30, was 18% higher than that of the first quarter.

Its all-inclusive sustaining costs (AISC) for the quarter decreased by $15/oz, to $853/oz.

In terms of performance in the first half of the year, Endeavour reports that production totalled 756 000 oz, while its AISC was $860/oz.

This positions Endeavour well to meet the top end of its full-year production guidance of between 1.36-million and 1.49-million ounces of gold, at an AISC of between $850/oz and $900/oz.

In the second quarter, Endeavour recorded adjusted net earnings from continuous operations of $183-million, translating into net earnings a share of $0.73.

The miner’s operating cash flow before working capital from continuous operations during the period was $286-million, translating into $1.13 apiece.

The miner also managed to lower its net debt by $85-million, to $77-million, while gross debt decreased by $120-million.

In terms of returns to shareholders, Endeavour paid its first dividend of $60-million on February 5 for the 2020 fiscal year. It has declared an interim dividend of $70-million, with a record date set at September 10.

President and CEO Sebastien de Montessus says the company’s profitability places it on track to deliver more than the guided minimum dividend of $125-million for the full year.

Further, Endeavour also continued with share buybacks to supplement shareholder returns with a total of $70-million of shares bought back since April, $59-million of which were bought back in the second quarter.

As for organic growth, the miner notes that construction of the Senegal-based Sabodala-Massawa Phase 1 expansion is on schedule for completion by year-end; with a definitive feasibility study under way for the Sabodala-Massawa Phase 2 expansion, as well as the Côte d'Ivoire-based Fetekro project and the Mali-based Kalana project.

Meanwhile, in terms of exploration, the Endeavour group is on track to discover over 2.5-million ounces of indicated resources this year, boosted by what the miner says are significant discoveries recently made at the Côte d'Ivoire-based Ity project, Burkina Faso-based Houndé project, and the Sabodala-Massawa and Fetekro projects.

“Overall, the group is on track to delineate over 2.5-million ounces of indicated resources in 2021, which represents significantly more than the expected annual depletion and contributes to our portfolio’s longevity,” De Montessus says.

“We are also very pleased to have successfully completed our listing on the premium-segment of the LSE in June and remain on track to be included into the UK and European indexes,” he adds.