Aankondiging • 5h
Fortuna Mining Corp. Delivers Feasibility Study for Diamba Sud Gold Project in Senegal
Fortuna Mining Corp. announced positive results from the feasibility study for its Diamba Sud Gold Project in Senegal, confirming an economically robust open-pit conventional carbon-in-leach gold mine. The feasibility study highlights include after-tax NPV5% of USD 1,009 million, IRR of 60%, and 1-year payback at USD 3,500/oz gold. At USD 4,000/oz gold, returns increase to NPV5% of USD 1,287 million, IRR of 72%, and 11-month payback. The project is expected to have strong first 4 years with average annual gold production of 158,000 ounces, a 9.4-year life of mine with an average annual gold production of 116,000 ounces, and a low-cost profile with average AISC of USD 1,056/oz over the first 4 years and USD 1,332/oz over the life of mine. The final investment decision is expected after receipt of the mining permit, with first gold targeted by Second Quarter 2028. Total initial capital is USD 397.5 million, and funding is secured by the company's strong cash flow generation and liquidity of over USD 800 million as at March 31, 2026. The company continues advancing camp construction, office facilities, and new site access road. A letter of intent has been executed with African Power Services as the power station engineering, procurement, and construction contractor to secure the heavy-fuel oil and light-fuel oil generators. Front-end engineering design is being completed to support early procurement of critical-path equipment, including the SAG mill, to reduce project schedule risk. The Diamba Sud Gold Project is located in the Kédougou Region of southeastern Senegal, approximately 665 kilometers southeast of Dakar, 83 kilometers northeast of Kédougou, and 50 kilometers north of the Senegal-Guinea border. The project comprises the contiguous DS1 and DS2 permit blocks, situated approximately 7 kilometers west of the Falémé River near the Senegal-Mali border. Diamba Sud is operated by Boya S.A., a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Fortuna. Boya holds full and unrestricted surface rights over the land covered by the exploration permit, subject to applicable mining regulations. Upon the granting of an exploitation permit, the State of Senegal will assume a 10% free-carried ownership interest in the project. The feasibility study summary includes a gold price of USD 3,500/oz, life of mine of 9.4 years, total ore mined of 20.5 Mt, contained gold in ore mined of 1,151 koz, strip ratio of 6.3:1, throughput (oxide) of 2.5 Mtpa, throughput (fresh) of 2.0 Mtpa, head grade of 1.75 g/t Au, recovery of 91%, total production over life of mine of 1,053 koz, average annual production over life of mine of 116 koz, average annual production over first 4 years of 158 koz, total mining costs of USD 4.8/t mined, processing costs of USD 16.1/t processed, G&A costs of USD 8.6/t processed, average operating cash costs over life of mine of USD 1,146/oz, average operating cash costs over first 4 years of USD 856/oz, average AISC over life of mine of USD 1,332/oz, average AISC over first 4 years of USD 1,056/oz, initial capital expenditure of USD 398 million, sustaining capital, operations plus infrastructure (includes closure costs) of USD 79 million, NPV5% pre-tax (100% project basis) of USD 1,379 million, pre-tax IRR of 70%, NPV5% after-tax (100% project basis) of USD 1,009 million, after-tax IRR of 60%, payback period of 1 year, average EBITDA over life of mine of USD 258 million, average EBITDA over first 4 years of USD 398 million. The feasibility study supersedes the Preliminary Economic Assessment dated October 15, 2025, and reflects a more advanced, higher-confidence project with stronger production, a longer mine life, improved technical definition, and reduced execution risk. Key optimizations to the project include higher production profile, longer mine life, reserve conversion and resource growth, improved grade profile, improved metallurgical performance, higher-confidence cost and execution basis, and reduced execution risk. The initial Mineral Reserve estimate for Diamba Sud represents a major milestone and provides the foundation for a long-life, low-cost open pit operation with strong production and cash flow potential. The Probable Mineral Reserves total 20.5 million tonnes averaging 1.75 g/t Au, containing 1.15 million ounces of gold. Diamba Sud remains open for further growth. The feasibility study mine plan is based on the current Mineral Reserve, while additional opportunities remain to convert Mineral Resources into Mineral Reserves and to expand the resource base through continued drilling. The Mineral Reserve estimate is supported by feasibility study-level technical work, including metallurgical, geotechnical, hydrogeological, environmental, mine planning, processing, infrastructure, and cost studies. Mineral Reserves are reported at the point of delivery to the process plant using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards, on a 100% basis, and are classified as Probable Mineral Reserves. Mineral Reserves are estimated and reported as at April 10, 2026. Mineral Resources, reported exclusive of Mineral Reserves, are summarized in the article. The feasibility study outlines a conventional open pit gold mining operation feeding a central processing facility over a 9.4-year project life. The mine plan incorporates the Area A, Area D, Karakara, Kassassoko, Moungoudi, Southern Arc, and Western Splay deposits, with mining sequenced to support a consistent production profile over the life of mine. The pit optimization shells used to constrain the Mineral Reserve were generated using a gold price of USD 2,900/oz and a revenue factor of 1.0. Based on the Mineral Reserve estimate, the mine plan includes the mining of 20.5 million tonnes of ore at an average gold grade of 1.75 g/t, containing 1.15 million ounces of gold. A total of 130 million tonnes of waste will be mined, resulting in a life of mine strip ratio of 6.3:1. Mining will use conventional open pit methods, including drilling and blasting for both oxide and fresh ore, followed by truck-and-shovel mining operations. Ore from the open pits will be processed through a conventional carbon-in-leach plant designed to produce gold doré, incorporating crushing, milling, gravity recovery, carbon-in-leach processing, carbon elution, and gold recovery. The process plant is designed to treat the ore at an average annual processing rate of approximately 2.26 million tonnes, producing 1.05 million ounces of gold at a life of mine metallurgical recovery of 91%. The feasibility study incorporates a fully geomembrane-lined tailings storage facility designed in accordance with industry best practices and the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management. The tailings management system will include a tailings pipeline and a water return pipeline housed within a geomembrane-lined trench, together with associated tailings pumps.