Just a human story about Burkina Faso...Late 70's and early 80's my mom went six times to that part of the world. Instead of searching for gold (she told me about the termites' mounds) she helped a few African women by importing a small load of karite nuts to Canada. In the meantime... Well, please continue reading ... (and don't slap me on the fingers for doing so...)... Since de Montessus became Endeavours CEO in 2016, the company has built two mines (Hounde in Burkina Faso in 2017 and Ity CIL in Cte dIvoire in 2019) and created one of the largest portfolios in West Africa with 21 million oz. of measured and indicated resources and footholds in two world-class belts: Hounde in Burkina Faso and Ity in Cte dIvoire. On the exploration front, Endeavours team under his leadership has discovered 8.5 million oz. gold at an average discovery cost to date of about US$12 per oz., which the company says is six times lower than its West African peers. In 2020 Endeavour spent US$44 million on exploration across all of its assets drilling more than 73,000 metres at Hounde with 11 rigs; over 85,000 metres at Ity (eight rigs) and another 75,000 metres at its Fetekro greenfield discovery in Cte dIvoire; along with 4,000 metres of underground drilling at its Mana mine in Burkina Faso. In December Endeavour increased its stake in Fetekro to 80% from 65% ahead of a prefeasibility study it expects to finish before the end of the first quarter of 2021. The company ended 2020 with a net cash position of US$70 million after reducing its net debt by US$660 million in just 18 months, and in November declared its first-ever dividend. De Montessus affinity for Africa began when he was a child. He learned to walk at eight months in Niger, and spent his first two years in the West African nation, where his father, an engineer, was working for the World Bank drilling water wells. The family then moved to Cape Town in South Africa for seven years, where his father served as a project manager on the countrys first nuclear plant. The first ten years of my childhood was in Africa and thats probably why I was extremely attracted to Africa and to West Africa, he said. And its part of Endeavours culture, to grow local talent, giving as much chance as we can to all those brilliant local engineers to grow. The CEOwho turned 46 in Januaryspends one to two weeks in West Africa every month and says its critical to develop relationships with governments and host communities. It helps that Endeavours assets are all in the same time zone and within a two hour flight of each other. As a Frenchman and having logged more than a decade in West Africa, de Montessus also benefits from sharing the language spoken in eight countries in the region (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cte dIvoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, and Togo). More importantly he understands the norms and way of life. Ive been extremely attached to Africa, to this continent, and to West Africa. So I think I understand the culture and I think what they do respect is because we speak the same language, I understand also that they dont have the same notion of time, he says. Some of the mining companies just fly in for a meeting and then fly out and they are surprised when the president, or the prime minister or the minister of mines, is not available. Its all a question of how much do they feel they are important to you. If its just one meeting in your agenda because then you have to go to New York, or to Russia, or to another jurisdiction, you just dont give the right message and the reality is that we are hosted in those countries and in order to be admitted, and taken care of by those governments, you need to show them they are important to you and you are ready to spend time there and to try to understand them. P.S. I don't own any shares of the above mentionned. Just thought of sharing why we may encounter this fellow in the near future... Have a good day! Rakoto.