TL;DR
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Fortuna Mining reported two broad gold intercepts beneath the planned pit at its operating Lindero mine in Argentina, including 98 metres grading 0.91 gram gold per tonne in hole LDH-272. The results could inform a deeper pit and revised reserves, but drilling does not establish that the material can be mined economically; updated estimates are planned for the first quarter next year.
Fortuna Mining has reported gold intercepts below the planned bottom of its Lindero open pit in Argentina, results the company is assessing for a possible deeper pit and revised reserves. The principal result, hole LDH-272, returned 98 metres grading 0.91 gram gold per tonne below the pit design; Fortuna has not established whether the material can be mined economically.
Fortuna reported that LDH-272 returned 350 metres averaging 0.96 gram gold per tonne from surface, including the below-design interval. A second hole, LDH-259, cut 236 metres grading 0.85 gram per tonne from surface, including 94 metres at 0.66 gram below the planned pit floor. The company said the intervals are downhole lengths, not true widths.
Both below-pit intervals are above the 0.54-gram-per-tonne average grade of Lindero’s existing reserves. That comparison is a grade comparison only: the reported drilling does not show that the deeper material meets the economic, engineering or other requirements needed to become reserves. Fortuna is working to determine how much of it could fit into an expanded pit and revised mining schedule.
Fortuna expanded its diamond-drilling program to 8,534 metres in 31 holes, up from an initial 6,000 metres, after early results, according to The Northern Miner’s report. The work focused on improving confidence in inferred resources beneath the southern part of the planned pit, where earlier drilling had found higher-grade gold. The company also collected samples to test expected recoveries from material scheduled to be mined over the next two years.
Potential to Extend Lindero’s Pit
The results matter because Lindero is an operating mine and a substantial part of Fortuna’s business. National Bank analyst Mohamed Sidibé said Lindero represents 32% of the bank’s forecast company-wide production this year and 28% of its estimated net asset value. Those figures are the bank’s estimates, not company-reported production targets for the new material.
If further work supports adding below-pit mineralization to the mine plan, a revised design could change the amount of material available for extraction and the schedule for mining it. However, intersections alone do not establish mineable reserves. The company must assess geological confidence, recoveries, costs and mine-design constraints before the deeper material can be treated as economically extractable. The potential benefit is not yet a confirmed production increase or extension to the mine’s operating life.
Fortuna’s shares were reported down about 1.4% to $14.35 by mid-Wednesday in Toronto, giving the company a market value of $4.27 billion. The source report does not establish that the share move was caused by the drilling results.
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Lindero’s Existing Reserve Base
Lindero is in Argentina’s high-altitude Puna region, about 260 kilometres from Salta, the provincial capital. It is a heap-leach gold operation that poured its first gold in October 2020. Fortuna’s documentation listed 64.4 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves grading 0.54 gram gold per tonne, containing about 1.1 million ounces, as of Dec. 31, 2025. The company put the remaining reserve life at nine years as of that date.
The new drilling targets material below the designed pit, rather than replacing the reported existing reserve figure. The report says National Bank’s operating model includes only existing reserves, although its valuation assigns some value to resources outside the mine plan. Sidibé wrote that the broad intersections strengthen the case for considering below-pit material in a revised pit and reserve estimate; that is an analyst’s assessment, not a completed company decision.
Fortuna said Lindero produced 26,024 ounces in the three months through September, a 25% increase from the second quarter, as improved equipment availability lifted crushing and stacking rates. Output for the first nine months was 68,398 ounces. The company maintained annual Lindero guidance of 92,000 to 102,000 ounces. Fortuna also operates the Séguéla gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire and the Caylloma silver-lead-zinc mine in Peru, and forecast company-wide production of 281,000 to 305,000 gold-equivalent ounces for the year.
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Economic Viability Still Unproven
The key unanswered question is how much of the drilled material, if any, can be mined economically. Fortuna has not reported a final pit design, revised mining schedule or updated reserve estimate. Drilling results alone do not establish that the material can be converted into reserves.
The reported intervals are downhole lengths. Fortuna has not defined their true widths because the mineralization is associated with a porphyry intrusion and forms a roughly circular body. The source report also does not provide a final assessment of gold recoveries, mining costs or the effect of any deeper pit on production timing.
It is also not yet clear how the new drilling will change Lindero’s reserve life or Fortuna’s production outlook. The existing reserve and annual guidance figures remain the reported baseline; the company has not announced a revised forecast tied to the below-pit results.
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Updated Estimates Due Next Year
Fortuna aims to finish updating Lindero’s geological model and pit design by year-end, incorporating the new drilling and indicated resources already identified beneath the pit. The company plans to release updated resource and reserve estimates in the first quarter of next year.
Those updates should show whether the deeper mineralization can be incorporated into the mine plan and what changes, if any, are supported by the work. Until Fortuna reports the revised design and estimates, the intercepts remain exploration results rather than confirmed additions to mineable reserves.
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Key Questions
What did Fortuna find beneath Lindero’s planned pit?
Hole LDH-272 returned 98 metres grading 0.91 gram gold per tonne below the pit design. Hole LDH-259 also intersected 94 metres grading 0.66 gram per tonne below the design. Fortuna reported both as downhole intervals, not true widths.
Do the drilling results mean Lindero has more reserves?
No. The results may support consideration of a deeper pit, but Fortuna has not announced new reserves. Additional geological and economic work is needed before the material can be included in a revised reserve estimate.
When will Fortuna publish updated Lindero estimates?
Fortuna plans to release updated resource and reserve estimates in the first quarter of next year. It also aims to complete updates to the geological model and pit design by year-end.
How does the reported grade compare with Lindero’s current reserves?
The two reported below-pit intervals are above the 0.54-gram-per-tonne average grade of Lindero’s existing reserves. Grade alone does not show whether the material is economically mineable or eligible to be classified as a reserve.
Source: rss
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