(Ecofin Agency) - Endeavour Mining Corporation, an intermediary gold mining Canadian company, will buy the 55% indirect equity of La Mancha Holding SARL, an investment company working in the gold sector, in Société des Mines d’Ity S.A. (SMI), which operates the Ity gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire as well as various other operations in the region.

This comes following a long-term strategic partnership signed between the Canadian company listed on three markets, which revealed the information on 21^st September, with La Mancha, a company owned by the family of Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.

Endeavour Mining joins in the SMI shareholding structure SODEMI which holds 30% of shares, against 10% for the Ivorian state and 5% for the Didier Drogba group.

At the end of this transaction, La Mancha will hold about 177.1 million ordinary shares, representing the equivalent of 30.0% of the registered capital of Endeavour which has a substantial portfolio of assets of 4 gold mines producing 500,000 ounces of gold per year in Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire. “This transaction will immediately increase the cash flows linked to Endeavour’s operational activities, increase respectively by 22% and 23% our attributable mineral reserve and resource base, while strengthening our balance sheet and financing position, which will enable us to continue growing”, Neil Woodyer, CEO of Endeavour commented.

Naguib Sawiris, president of La Mancha Group, explained this partnership through his commitment for the future of Africa and the gold mining industry with the creation of value as strategic objective in the long term. “By combining our African assets and management sills, we will grasp future opportunities to create an important gold producer in Africa”, he stressed.

The Ity gold mine is an open pit operation, located 480 km North-West of Abidjan, with a heap leaching ore treatment. As of 31^st July 2015, the proven probable reserves totalled 2.3 million tons at 2.4g/t containing 173,000oz. Production for the first half 2015 was of 45,000oz.