Promising Explorer Kobo Resources Heading for a Busy Fall? Endeavour Mining and Perseus Mining Under Pressure

Endeavour Mining: Rising Costs Amid Stable Production

The top player in the region is Endeavour Mining. The gold producer looks back on a successful year. In fiscal year 2025, the company produced a total of 1,209,000 ounces of gold at consolidated all-in sustaining costs of USD 1,433 per ounce. Thanks to a sharp rise in sales prices, the company generated free cash flow of USD 1.156 billion. Nevertheless, ongoing operations are taking their toll. For 2026, management under CEO Ian Cockerill expects significantly higher total costs of between USD 1,600 and USD 1,800 per ounce, with a production target of up to 1,265,000 ounces. This cost pressure stems primarily from the labour-intensive removal of overburden as well as temporarily lower ore grades at key mines such as Lafigué and Houndé. At the same time, rising government royalty fees are weighing on margins. Nevertheless, the Group's solid balance sheet continues to provide it with the necessary financial flexibility to develop its projects.

Perseus Mining Struggles with Its Yaouré Mine

The Australian-Canadian producer Perseus Mining is also feeling the impact of the changes in West Africa. Although the company achieved a record output of 496,551 ounces of gold in fiscal year 2025, the following half-year brought significant turbulence. At its main Ivorian operation, Yaouré, quarterly production plummeted abruptly by 42% to just 32,045 ounces at the end of 2025, while production costs climbed to an astronomical USD 2,092 per ounce. This was due to technical problems as well as the temporary processing of low-grade tailings. To ensure the plant operates at full capacity in the long term, new CEO Craig Jones is now pushing ahead with the USD 170 million CMA underground project and expanding operations into Nyanzaga, Tanzania. However, existing processing capacities need to be fully utilized—which brings smaller companies in the region, such as Kobo Resources, into focus.

Kobo Resources: Record Yield at the Kossou Project

Canadian explorer Kobo Resources holds a 100% stake in its flagship Kossou project in Côte d'Ivoire, which directly borders Perseus Mining's property. In an extensive drilling program covering 42,488 m, the exploration team encountered intervals of 75.29 g/t Au over 2.0 m at a depth of just 99.0 m in the Jagger Zone. At the same time, a drill hole in the Road Cut Zone, yielding 5.67 g/t Au over 7.0 m, confirmed the vertical continuity of the ore at a depth of 279 m. Laboratory analyses by SGS Canada confirm that the ores have an average gold recovery rate of 97% with minimal reagent consumption. Approximately 57% of the precious metal can even be recovered in advance using purely mechanical gravity separation. This high yield underscores the property's potential—for Kobo and possibly for the entire region as well.

Expansion in Côte d'Ivoire: Kotobi Unlocks Additional Potential

In addition to its main project, Kossou, Kobo is gradually expanding its presence in Côte d'Ivoire. With the 100%-owned Kotobi license, the Canadian company secured a 302 km² property where soil samples have already shown gold grades up to 780 ppb. Following the successful establishment of the necessary infrastructure, Kobo will launch its first drilling program at Kotobi this summer. Financially, the company is on solid footing. A capital increase in April injected CAD 5.5 million into the company's coffers, with the Funde Investment Chang Ying Fund coming on board as an anchor investor. In addition, the infrastructure subsidiary Luso Global Mining holds nearly 10% of the shares and supports Kobo with on-site operational logistics.

Kobo Resources as an Ideal Acquisition Target

The outlook for Kobo Resources is promising both operationally and strategically. The company is debt-free and is preparing its first official resource estimate for the second half of the year. Experience shows that the market only gradually prices in potential once such key data for a project is already available. The current market capitalization of approximately CAD 30 million does not yet fully reflect this potential. Furthermore, at this stage, Kobo can be considered a prime acquisition target for its neighbour, Perseus. Given its proximity of just a few kilometres to the Yaouré infrastructure, an acquisition or partnership could offset the looming idling of the mill there. Kobo Resources shows promise in various ways, but its value must be considered speculative due to the early stage of exploration.