Fortuna Silver Mines drills 90.9 g/t gold over 1.8 metres at Seguela mine, Ivory Coast

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. [FVI-TSX; FSM-NYSE] provided an update on its exploration programs at the Seguela mine in Ivory Coast, the Yaramoko mine in Burkina Faso and the Baborigame project in Mexico.

Paul Weedon, senior vice-president of exploration at Fortuna, commented: “Infill drilling at the Sunbird Deposit to upgrade geologic confidence has concluded, with the next phase of estimation, optimization, and design having commenced as part of reserve development and expected life-of-mine extension for the Seguela Mine. With this underway, the focus has returned to generating new anomalies and testing prospects, with positive near surface results at Barana emphasizing the regional potential; such as drill hole SGRD1647 intersecting 90.9 g/t gold over an estimated true width of 1.8 metres.

“Recent drilling of Zone 55 at the Yaramoko Mine has identified high grade mineralization extending at least 130 metres beyond the current resource envelope to the west, confirmed by recent mine development in the area, with intervals such as 32.8 g/t gold over an estimated true width of 3.1 metres in drill hole YRM-23-GCDD-203.

“In addition to the encouraging results from West Africa, first pass drilling to test geological concepts at our Baborigame Project in Mexico was successful in testing several vein arrays, intersecting multiple mineralized zones such as 2.7 g/t gold and 155 g/t silver over an estimated true width of 4.04 metres in drill hole BAB-22-004.”

Seguela Mine, Ivory Coast: At the Sunbird deposit drilling highlights included drill hole SGRD1586 that returned 12.7 g/t gold over an estimated true width (ETW) of 18.9 metres from 147 metres.

SGRD1580 returned 22.2 g/t gold over an estimated true width of 2.1 metres from 115 metres and 7.5 g/t gold over an ETW of 23.8 metres from 128 metres. SGRD1615 returned 16.2 g/t Au over an ETW of 8.4 metres from 270 metres.

SGRD1585 returned 28.7 g/t Au over an ETW of 2.8 metres from 151 metres. SGRD1599 returned 4.7 g/t Au over an ETW of 13.3 metres from 81 metres. SGRD1281 returned 10.7 g/t Au over an ETW of 5.6 metres from 199 metres (re-entered hole).

Infill drilling for increased geologic confidence at the Sunbird Deposit was recently completed, with 47 holes drilled totalling 11,075 metres of an expanded 15,126-metre program, increased from 9,500 metres due to continued positive results. Drilling intersected high-grade mineralization close to the margins of the pit optimization limit.

Drill hole SGRD1580 intersected several zones of mineralization including 22.2 g/t Au over a true width of 2.1 metres and 7.5 g/t Au over a true width of 23.8 metres while a re-entered drill hole, SGRD1281, intersected 10.7 g/t Au over a true width of 5.6 metres on the margin of the current pit optimization shell. Results will be incorporated into an updated Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimate prior to pit optimization and design of a revised Seguela life-of-mine planned for release in Q4 2023.

Further drilling to test the depth potential of the southerly plunging high grade shoots is planned for the second half of 2023.

Barana and Badior drilling highlights: SGRD1647 returned 90.9 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 1.8 metres from 43 metres (Barana). SGRD1634 returned 1.4 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 8.1 metres from 77 metres (Barana).

SGRD1641 returned 2.4 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 5.4 metres from 67 metres (Barana). SGRD1623 returned 4.9 g/t Au over an estimated true width of 12.6 metres from 110 metres (Badior).

At the Barana and Badior prospects, 30 holes totaling 3,907 metres were drilled with the objective of testing the strike extent and continuity of mineralization identified in the first scout drilling program. Further drilling is planned for later in 2023.

Yaramoko mine, Burkina Faso: A successful drilling program of 29 holes for a total of 7,011 metres was completed at the Yaramoko Mine, testing the strike and vertical extent of high grade extensions to the Zone 55 mineralization to the west, and limited strike extent testing to the lower east levels of the underground operation. Based on the positive exploration results, management expects to provide an updated Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimate for the Yaramoko Mine before the end of the year.

Zone 55 drilling highlights: YRM-22-GCDD-184 returned 9.6 g/t Au over an ETW of 5.5 metres from 254.10 metres. YRM-23-GCDD-203 returned 32.8 g/t Au over an ETW of 3.1 metres from 287.90 metres.

YRM-23-GCDD-205 returned 13.2 g/t Au over an ETW of 4.6 metres from 302.28 metres. YRM-23-GCDD-224 returned 8.9 g/t Au over an ETW of 8.2 metres from 120.95 metres. YRM-23-GCDD-227 -returned 8.8 g/t Au over an ETW of 8.6 metres from 140.10 metres.

Drilling to the west has intersected new high-grade mineralization beyond the boundary of the 2022 Mineral Resource, with recent mine development extending approximately 130 metres beyond the previous design. Drilling will continue to test the depth potential in the second half of 2023, which remains open and where the deepest intersection returned 10.6 g/t Au over a true width of 2.3 metres in drill hole GCDD-207.

Step-out drilling to the east and at depth has also continued to identify the Zone 55 mineralized structure beyond the limits of the 2022 Mineral Resource boundary, with encouraging results including drill hole GCDD-224 returning 8.9 g/t Au over a true width of 8.2 metres. Drilling will continue in the second half of 2023.

Baborigame project, Mexico: A program of 14 diamond drill holes over two phases totaling 3,902 metres was conducted between late 2022 and 2023 as part of a “proof of concept” evaluation of the Baborigame Project.

Baborigame drilling highlights: BAB-22-004 returned 2.7 g/t Au and 155 g/t Ag over an ETW of 4.04 metres from 192.00 metres. BAB-23-010 returned 3.3 g/t Au and 538 g/t Ag over an ETW of 1.20 metres from 191.00 metres. BAB-23-009 returned 2.4 g/t Au and 314 g/t Ag over an estimated true width of 2.04 metres from 188.15 metres.

Further drilling is scheduled for the second half of 2023 targeting the western extension of Cebollas West and the undrilled Los Pinos structure where surface rock sampling returned up to 10 g/t Au and 369 g/t Ag.

Fortuna Silver Mines is a Canadian precious metals mining company with five operating mines in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mexico, and Peru.