Fortuna Silver drills 20.2 g/t gold over 18.2 metres of at Seguela, Ivory Coast
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. [FVI-TSX; FSM-NYSE; F4S-FSE] provided an update on its Sunbird exploration program at the 90%-owned Seguela gold project located in Côte D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), West Africa. The government owns the remaining 10%.
In September of 2021, the company made a construction decision to proceed to build a 3,750-tonne-per-day open-pit mine at the Seguela gold project, with first gold pour expected in mid-2023.
Paul Weedon, senior vice-president of exploration, commented, “Exploration results at Seguela continue to support the high-grade trend we have seen from the recent drilling at the Sunbird prospect, and with all results now to hand, the company is looking forward to seeing a maiden inferred resource estimate for Sunbird.”
Weedon added, “Mineralization at Sunbird remains open along strike and at depth, where coarse visible gold seen in diamond drill core is supported by high gold assay grades, with the high-grade core extending more than 250 metres in strike length. Significant upside remains at depth and additional drilling has commenced to test this potential.”
At the Seguela gold project, Sunbird prospect assay highlights include hole SGRD137 that returned 20.2 g/t gold over an estimated true width of 18.2 metres from 142 metres. Hole SGRD1373 returned 13.4 g/t gold over an estimated true width of 18.9 metres from 169 metres.
Hole SGRD1375 returned 7.7 g/t gold over an estimated true width of 14 metres from 225 metres. Hole SGRD1377 returned 10.9 g/t gold over an estimated true width of 8.4 metres from 187 metres.
Exploration drilling at the Seguela gold project continues to advance the Sunbird prospect with a recently completed seven-hole 1,887-metre program testing the continuity of mineralization at depth and along strike to the south. Drilling was primarily focused on providing better resolution of the extent of the central high-grade core identified in earlier drilling ahead of the anticipated preparation of a maiden mineral inferred resource estimate, with assays highlighting the continuity of the mineralization. The high-grade mineralization remains open at depth and down plunge, with exploration stepout drilling under way to test an additional 100 to 150 metres downdip.
With the receipt of these results, work has commenced on the preparation of a maiden mineral inferred resource for the Sunbird prospect, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.
An eight-hole program to test the depth potential has commenced with two holes completed to date.
Fortuna Silver Mines has four operating mines in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Mexico and Peru, and a fifth mine under construction in Ivory Coast.