Ramping up results Endomines

RAMPING UP RESULTS

Endomines AB specialises in mining for gold along the Karelian Gold Line in eastern Finland. Philip Yorke talked to Markus Ekberg, the company’s CEO, about the success of its new Pampalo mining operations and its prospects for further expansion in Finnish Lapland.

Endomines was founded in Finland in 1996 and is today comprised of the parent company Endomines AB and two wholly owned subsidiaries: Endomines Oy and Kalvinit Oy. The operations of Endomines Oy concentrate on exploration, development of gold deposits and gold mining activities. Kalvinit Oy is focused on the development of the company’s industrial ilmenite deposits. These subsidiaries were both founded in the mid-1990s and have been financed by private individuals and leading Finnish institutions since their inception. Currently all the company’s mineral deposits are located in Finland, but this may change to include other Nordic countries in the longer term.

Success was achieved early when the parent company, Endomines AB, was transformed from a minor exploration company to a fully fledged mining company in 2009 and made ready for commercial production. Construction of the company’s Pampalo mine was completed before the end of 2010, on target and within budget. Subsequently,

the Pampalo Gold Mine delivered its first gold concentrates to Finland’s Boliden Harjavalta smelter early in February 2011 and has now ramped up its production to full capacity.

The company’s mining operations are based on sustainable principles and on minimising the impact on the environment. The Pampalo processing plant does not use cyanide leaching in its processing system.

Building on initial success

During 2010 Endomines focused its efforts on the construction and commissioning of its major asset, the Pampalo gold mine. Underground mine production began in midApril and over 1000 metres of underground development drifting was completed in less than 18 months. In total, more than 45,000 tonnes of ore was mined by drifting and longhole stoping operations.

Mr Ekberg said, “Endomines AB is the newest gold mine in Europe. We are located in eastern Finland only 10 kilometres from the border with Russia. I am very encouraged by what we have achieved since we began full mining operations at the beginning of this year. We are selling our intermediate concentrates to smelters in Finland and expect to process over 250,000 tonnes of ore this year.

“We have a lot of exploration in-hand and a lot of tenements ahead of us to explore and are optimistic about our other licence holdings along the Karelian Gold Line and also in Finnish Lapland. The production ramp-up at our Pampalo gold mine will be completed by the third quarter of this year, by which time any remaining modifications to the processing plant will have been carried out. Thereafter we expect to achieve gold production levels of 800−900kg per annum from 2012.”

Qualifying mineral reserves

Endomines is quoted on the Stockholm stock exchange First North Premium and therefore

from an investor’s point of view it is important to be able to qualify the potential of the company’s assets. As a result, Endomines reports the levels of its mineral resources according the Australian JORC code. The reporting code is supported by the Swedish and Finnish organisations in the mining industry, SveMin and FAERI. In addition to these qualifications, the company also ensures the transparency of its mineral resources through qualified, independent and international consultants who make mineral and ore estimates based upon industry standards.

Mr Ekberg added, “These important quality-assurance procedures are the foundation stones for the company’s future and also allow international comparisons to be made with similar mining companies.”

Furthermore, an updated JORC compliant estimate for the company’s mineral resource and ore reserves at its Pampalo gold mine was recently completed by the leading independent consulting company, Outotec Oyj (Finland), which confirmed that the increase in mineable reserve tonnes at Pampalo was 50 per cent and the increase in gold content was 11 per cent. These new estimates further strengthen the outlook for profitable gold production at Pampalo and the Karelian Gold Line for Endomines AB. n