Fortuna Mining reports 69,665 gold equivalent ounces, keeps guidance
Séguéla needs 42,557 gold ounces in Q4 to hit its low-end annual target as Fortuna budgets US$109M for a plant expansion.
Mara Quinlan
Fortuna Mining Corp. TSEFVI NYSEFSM reported on Wednesday third-quarter production of 69,665 gold equivalent ounces, down from 72,217 in the second quarter. Its 214,754 ounces through September leave 66,246 ounces needed in the fourth quarter to reach the bottom of its 281,000-to-305,000-ounce annual guidance.
On Tuesday, Fortuna’s TSEFVI shares slipped 0.2 per cent to C$15.88 at the 4:00 p.m. EDT close in Toronto, before Wednesday’s production release.
The quarterly decline came chiefly from Séguéla in Côte d’Ivoire, where output fell to 33,744 gold ounces from 41,683 as contractor equipment problems and a temporary blockade by artisanal miners disrupted work, Fortuna said. The blockade ended after a government agency intervened, and mining volumes returned to planned levels in September.
Fortuna’s board approved US$109 million during the third quarter for a 30 per cent expansion of Séguéla’s processing plant. The company also added a 190-square-kilometre property beside Diamba Sud in Senegal and expects an investment decision on that project in the fourth quarter of 2026.
"Gold production is expected to recover to first-half 2026 levels in the fourth quarter as mining volumes normalize and access to higher-grade ore improves," Fortuna said in its production release.
At Séguéla, nine-month output of 117,443 gold ounces leaves 42,557 ounces needed in the fourth quarter to reach the mine’s 160,000-ounce low-end target. That is 8,813 ounces above its third-quarter production, even after mining volumes recovered in September. Fortuna expects Séguéla to reach the lower end of its annual guidance, while its group forecast remains 281,000 to 305,000 gold equivalent ounces.
Lindero in Argentina partly offset Séguéla’s decline, producing 26,024 gold ounces in the third quarter, up from 20,829 in the second. Its 68,398 ounces through September leave at least 23,602 ounces to reach the low end of its 92,000-to-102,000-ounce annual target. Caylloma in Peru contributed 9,897 gold equivalent ounces in the quarter, bringing its nine-month total to 28,913.
The gold equivalent measure includes gold, silver, lead and zinc, with metal-price assumptions that changed between the second and third quarters. Séguéla’s expansion is designed to raise annual mill throughput to 2.3 million tonnes and restore gold recovery to 94 per cent. Commissioning is scheduled for the third quarter of 2028, with annual gold output targeted above 200,000 ounces from the second half of that year.
Fortuna said Sunbird underground is expected to feed the expanded mill from 2028, with final permitting expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. At Diamba Sud, six rigs have begun drilling across the acquired Bambadji property, which consolidates about 60 kilometres of prospective strike along the Senegal-Mali Shear Zone. Fortuna continues to target a first gold pour from Diamba Sud in the second quarter of 2028.
Fortuna expects to decide whether to invest in Diamba Sud in the fourth quarter of 2026 as it completes tax-stability negotiations with Senegal.
