Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (TSX: FVI) (NYSE: FSM) is pleased to provide an update on its Sunbird drilling program at the Séguéla Gold Project located in Côte d’Ivoire.
Paul Weedon, Senior Vice President of Exploration at Fortuna, commented, “Infill drilling at Sunbird to upgrade resource confidence has commenced, with the first batch of results returning shallow high grade intersections from modelled low grade areas from within the pit optimization shell, including highlights such as 10.6 g/t Au over a true width of 21.7 meters in drill hole SGRC1572 and 14.9 g/t Au over a true width of 14 meters from drill hole SGRC1570.” Mr. Weedon continued, “In addition to the initial infill results, extension drilling to test the northern strike beyond the pit shell has been successful in intersecting additional high grade results such as 12.0 g/t Au over a true width of 5.6 meters in drill hole SGRC1566 and 6.6 g/t Au over a true width of 6.3 meters in drill hole SGRC1567.” Mr. Weedon added, “The focus at Sunbird is currently on upgrading its resource confidence with the ultimate intention of conversion to mineral reserves to expand Séguéla’s current 1.1 million ounces of gold reserves and nine-year life-of-mine1. The Company is looking forward to the positive outcome of the program and the resumption of testing the high grade depth potential beyond the current optimization shell limit.”
Sunbird Deposit infill drilling highlights:
Infill drilling for increased resource confidence at Sunbird is underway, with 30 holes drilled in the first 4,560 meters completed of a 9,500 meter program. Drilling has continued to intersect shallow high-grade mineralization in areas previously modeled as lower grade based on earlier wider spaced drilling. Drill hole SGRC1572 intersects several zones of mineralization including 10.6 g/t Au over a true width of 21.7 meters and SGRC1570 intersects 14.9 g/t Au over a true width of 14.0 meters in the north of the pit optimization shell (refer to Figure 1).
Drilling to test continuity beyond the pit optimization shell to the north has also intersected broad shallow zones of mineralization including 2.5 g/t Au over a true width of 19.6 meters from surface in drill hole SGRC1564 and 2.4 g/t Au over a true width of 17.5 meters from surface in drill hole SGRC1581. Additional drilling is planned to further define the extent of these zones.
Note:
Drilling is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2023 ahead of further optimization work and integration into the life of mine plan. Further drilling to test the depth potential of the high grade shoots previously identified plunging to the south is planned for the second half of 2023.
Sunbird´s mineralization consists of a series of near vertical quartz dominant veins demonstrating good continuity down-dip and along strike. This reflects the strong structural control present; consistent with the majority of the deposits drilled at Séguéla to date. Refer to Appendix 1 for full results received for all holes drilled in the first phase of the Sunbird drill program.
Figure 1: Sunbird Deposit long-section looking west showing recent drilling results.
Quality Assurance & Quality Control
All drilling data completed by the Company utilized the following procedures and methodologies. All drilling was carried out under the supervision of the Company’s personnel.
All RC drilling at Séguéla used a 5.25-inch face sampling pneumatic hammer with samples collected into 60-liter plastic bags. Samples were kept dry by maintaining enough air pressure to exclude groundwater inflow. If water ingress exceeded the air pressure, RC drilling was stopped, and drilling converted to diamond core tails. Once collected, RC samples were riffle split through a three-tier splitter to yield a 12.5% representative sample for submission to the analytical laboratory. The residual 87.5% samples were stored at the drill site until assay results were received and validated. Coarse reject samples for all mineralized samples corresponding to significant intervals are retained and stored on-site at the company-controlled core yard.
All diamond drilling drill holes at Séguéla were drilled with HQ sized diamond drill bits. The core was logged, marked up for sampling using standard lengths of one meter or to a geological boundary. Samples were then cut into equal halves using a diamond saw. One half of the core was left in the original core box and stored in a secure location at the company core yard at the project site. The other half was sampled, catalogued and placed into sealed bags and securely stored at the site until shipment.
All Séguéla RC and DD core samples were shipped to ALS Laboratories’ preparation laboratory in Yamoussoukro for preparation and then, via commercial courier, to ALS’s facility in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso for finishing. Routine gold analysis using a 50-gram charge and fire assay with an atomic absorption finish was completed for all Séguéla samples. Quality control procedures included the systematic insertion of blanks, duplicates and sample standards into the sample stream. In addition, the ALS laboratory inserted its own quality control samples.
Mineral Resources
Current Mineral Resources at the Sunbird Deposit are set below. For further information refer to Fortuna news release dated December 5, 2022.
Deposit | Classification | Tonnes (000) |
Au (g/t) |
Au (koz) |
Sunbird | Measured | – | – | – |
Indicated | 3,260,000 | 2.74 | 279,000 | |
Inferred | 4,219,000 | 3.74 | 506,000 |
Notes:
Qualified Person
Paul Weedon, Senior Vice President of Exploration for Fortuna Silver Mines Inc., is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 being a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (Membership #6001). Mr. Weedon has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Weedon has verified the data disclosed, and the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information or opinions contained herein by reviewing geochemical and geological databases and reviewing diamond drill core. There were no limitations to the verification process.
About Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. is a Canadian precious metals mining company with four operating mines in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Mexico and Peru, and a fifth mine under construction in Côte d’Ivoire. Sustainability is integral to all our operations and relationships. We produce gold and silver and generate shared value over the long-term for our stakeholders through efficient production, environmental protection, and social responsibility.
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