To what extent does West Africa contribute to Fortuna Mining’s performance and growth today?

In the second quarter of FY24, Fortuna Mining reported sales of US$260 million with adjusted EBITDA of US$113 million. This strong performance is largely driven by our two mines in West Africa, Séguéla in Côte d’Ivoire and Yaramoko in Burkina Faso, which together account for 55% of our gold equivalent production of 116,000 oz. Moreover, our West African mines deliver the highest margins, with Séguéla being our lowest-cost operation at an operating cash cost of approximately US$600/oz and an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$1,100/oz, well below the global average of US$1,500/oz. We are very pleased with our current performance and optimistic about the future, especially with precious metal prices on the rise.

What have been the latest exploration highlights in Coté d’Ivoire to increase the resource base at Séguéla?  

One of the key drivers behind our acquisition of Roxgold in 2021, beyond the Yaramoko and Séguéla assets, was the significant exploration potential within their property packages. To illustrate this, underground mining at Yaramoko was initially slated to cease in 2023. However, not only did we have an outstanding year of production from underground in 2023, but we also upgraded our guidance and extended to extend underground operations by another two years.

At Séguéla, the mine has a LOM of 8 years according to its technical report.  However, we control an exploration package that extends over 35 km and, so far, our exploration efforts have been incredibly successful, leading to two major discoveries: The first is Sunbird, announced in 2022, where we outlined a maiden (inferred) mineral resource of 3.4 million t at an average grade of 3.16 g/t Au containing 350,000 oz of gold. The other and our newest discovery is the Kingfisher prospect. Kingfisher is what I would call a “blind” discovery, and the reason I say this is because it is completely muted on the surface, without any outcrops or artisanal mining, and yet it was sitting right under our noses just 4 km away from our processing facilities. Through smart exploration, our teams were able to identify at Kingfisher a 2 km mineralization strike with exceptionally high grades going up to 23.7 g/t Au at over 17 m. 

With Yaramoko nearing its end of life, what is your end plan for the mine, and to what extent does the operational environment play in Burkina Faso into that decision? 

The business environment in Burkina Faso has been deteriorating, with both security and political stability declining. While Fortuna Mining continues to operate within the boundaries of our existing property and maintain engagement with the government, we have no plans to expand our presence in the country at this time. The overall environment is very different from what it was five years ago.

Meanwhile, Fortuna has strengthened its presence in West Africa through the acquisition of Chesser Resources and the Diamba Sud project in Senegal. What made this project a standout?

Diamba Sud is situated in one of the most prolific gold belts in West Africa, the Senegalese-Mali Shear Zone, which is home to world-class operations like Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto complex and B2Gold’s Fekola mine. Chesser made remarkable progress in a short time and with limited resources, advancing the property from a basic soil anomaly to a 625,000-oz indicated and a 235,00 oz inferred historic JORC classified gold resource. Our team is now on-site, conducting drilling activities to improve the geological understanding of the deposit and expand its size before advancing to development stage.

How has Fortuna Mining supported sustainable local development in West Africa?

In FY23, we invested around US$8.5 million in community initiatives, working closely with our neighboring communities to understand their development priorities and to act as a strategic partner rather than imposing our own agenda. One initiative worth highlighting is our National Partnership Program (NPP) in Côte d’Ivoire, where we partnered with the Ivorian government to co-fund a cataract surgery program, helping patients across the country regain their eyesight. So far, more than 400 people have benefited from this initiative.

On the environmental front, a major achievement has been our significant reduction in water usage. When we first started operations, we used about 1 m³ of water for every ton of ore processed, which was the industry standard. Today, through water recycling and process optimization, we have reduced our freshwater use to 0.2 m³ per ton of ore. Another key environmental milestone is our adoption of the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management. 

As the company turns 20 years since it was founded, could you comment on its evolution to date and the recent rebrand from Fortuna Silver Mines to Fortuna Mining?

Fortuna came to life in 2005. We were three associates, with no money but plenty of big ideas. In those early days, we focused heavily on silver, a metal that was trading at under US$3/oz and was not very popular. Fast-forward 20 years, Fortuna is no longer a three-person team, but an organization with over 5,000 employees and over US$300 million in liquidity. The new name retains our essence as Fortuna, as the market knows us, but it better reflects the fact that we are a precious metals company with both gold and silver assets - giving us better flexibility for the future.