Fortuna acquires Senegal gold project from IAMGOLD, Barrick

NYSE- and TSX-listed Fortuna Mining Corp has acquired the Bambadji gold project in Senegal through the purchase of certain Senegalese subsidiaries held by Barrick Mining Corporation and IAMGOLD Corporation.

Located adjacent to Fortuna’s feasibility-stage Diamba Sud gold project, Bambadji consolidates about 60 km of prospective strike along the Senegal-Mali Shear Zone, a Tier-1 gold corridor hosting several world-class mines.

“Bambadji represents a rare opportunity to consolidate a large-scale, highly prospective exploration land package immediately adjacent to our feasibility-stage Diamba Sud project. The $200-million consideration paid for the project reflects multiple prime drill-defined targets, the scale of the land package the extensive historical exploration dataset and the potential to materially expand Diamba Sud in one of the most prospective gold districts in West Africa, where quality ground is difficult to assemble,” Fortuna president and CEO Jorge A Ganoza comments.

Fortuna has approved an initial $8-million exploration budget for Bambadji for the remainder of this year, comprising 51 000 m of reverse circulation and diamond drilling. Drilling is expected to start in the third quarter.

The programme is designed to improve confidence and definition across several advanced drill-defined targets located within a 20 km radius of the proposed Diamba Sud plant site. Eight priority targets have been identified for initial drilling, while generative exploration will continue in parallel to advance additional targets along the project’s highly prospective mineralised trends, the company notes in a statement.