Site visit: Fortuna Mining drives value at Lindero pit

In a lunar-like landscape high in the Argentinian Andes, workers in white hazmat suits pace the cyanide-damp heap-leach pad. They have begun stacking ore on a second stage of Fortuna Mining’s (NYSE: FSM; TSX: FVI) Lindero gold mine that will lift total capacity to 80 million tonnes by 2033.

Where a 100-metre hill once stood is now a bowl of broken rock. A third phase of pit pushbacks are cutting the barren core deeper to free richer rims of mineralized porphyry. When all is ground and stacked, the mountain will rise again a few hundred metres away on the pad, its gold and copper long stripped.

“We are working to consolidate Fortuna as a leading mid-tier producer,” president and CEO Jorge Ganoza told The Northern Miner in an interview. “Lindero clearly fits into that strategy.”

Lindero is perched 3,700 metres above sea level. It takes a 40-minute flight to cover the 420 km as the Beechcraft flies from Salta at the foot of the Andes. Or a 12-hour drive by truck on about double the route length by road (watch the video attached below).

The CEO places Lindero at the heart of Fortuna’s strategy to become a mid-tier producer. He wants assets that turn out 500,000 oz. gold a year at mid-curve costs and carry at least a decade of reserves.

“Lindero has exploration potential and costs gravitating toward the industry average,” he said in a phone interview.

At C$8.74 per share at the close on Monday, Fortuna’s Toronto-listed equity has gained 45% since January, giving it a market capitalization of C$2.7 billion.

A blast at Fortuna Mining’s Lindero gold mine in Argentina’s high Andes. Credit: Henry Lazenby

Milei’s macro tailwind

Argentina’s wider economy has simplified life at Lindero. One year into the presidency of libertarian President Javier Milei, local economist Miguel Kiguel says the government’s shock budget cuts were an economic turning point.

“People essentially wanted in Argentina different policies,” Kiguel said via a video link to the Lindero office. “A smaller public sector, less regulation much more free enterprises and an economy that was more integrated to the world.”

Since December 2023, the government slashed a longstanding budget deficit to zero, collapsed the official exchange rate gap from 200% to 15% and drove monthly inflation from 25% to 2.7% by the end of last year. Sovereign risk credit spreads, which measure the cost of insuring against a country’s default, fell from 20% to 6%, Kiguel said.

“The most impressive thing that he did was this drastic reduction in the budget deficit from 6% of gross domestic product to a balanced budget,” the economist said.

Fortuna’s chief operating officer for Latin America, Cesar Velasco, confirms the difference on site. The previous regime’s 8% export tax on doré bars has vanished, boosting the Lindero bottom line. Working capital requirements have shrunk as imports clear swiftly and domestic prices stabilize, Velasco said during a sponsored tour.

“We used to wait six months for spare parts and dollars,” he said. Now the doors are open.”

However, the change doesn’t come easy. Argentinians staged a nationwide 24-hour strike in April to protest Milei’s austerity measures—steep budget cuts, state-sector layoffs and pension and service cuts. Visitors to Lindero found themselves stranded in the provincial capital of Salta for an extra day with no flights to Buenos Aires. On April 10, protesters gathered at Plaza 9 de Julio, the city’s central square, as part of the nationwide mobilization against Milei’s austerity measures.

New lungs for life

Lindero’s original heap pad filled by the end of last year. Crews raced to build the pad’s second stage on schedule, delivering a $120-million (C$166-million) expansion on time and budget in the prior quarter.

“It gives the mine a fresh decade of ore stacking space and an extra 23 metres of lift height,” Velasco said.

The new lift joins five earlier benches to total about 110 metres of stack. Engineers from SRK and Knight Piésold verify each liner layer on geomembrane, compacted clay and filtration under constant radar and piezometer watch. In the control room, radar arrays scan slopes for movement and fatigue cameras track drivers throughout shifts. Since the first gold pour in December 2020, Lindero has recorded zero vehicle accidents.

Operation mine engineer Romina Yurquina tells The Northern Miner that, in the high-tech digital control room, she has a great view of the open-pit operation. She compares the mine plan to hollowing a doughnut.

“The grade sits around the hole in a doughnut. To reach it we have to eat the hole,” she explained as jumbo drills clattered at the stage-three pushback.

Then a blast followed, sending huge plumes of rock and dust flying over the desert landscape. Drillers have traced feeder intrusions to 550 metres depth, mapping higher-grade shoots for future cutbacks.

Fortuna Mining completed the stage-two heap-leach pad expansion at Lindero in March. Credit: Henry Lazenby

Diesel down, solar up

While gold prices have been pushing higher on markets, Lindero’s mine managers are squeezing additional value from the operation. Fuel costs dominate Lindero’s power and haulage budget, said Victor Silva, operations director at Fortuna subsidiary Mansfield Minera.

Last year, Fortuna replaced seven 90-tonne Komatsu haul trucks with nine 45-tonne Scania vehicles that burn less diesel and use locally stocked parts. Silva said the switch will yield about $21 million in savings over the mine life.

Beside the leach pad, a 6.55-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant is rising on site. Fortuna expects it online by June, shaving 40% of diesel generation and cutting 10,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

A 6.55-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant is rising on site and should power up in June. Credit: Henry Lazenby

Nearby upside

But as Ganoza points out, Lindero remains an organic growth pillar for Fortuna. The Arizaro intrusion, 2.5 km west of the original discovery, holds 32,400 tonnes at 0.47 gram gold per tonne for 389,000 oz. of inferred gold. Soil sampling and geophysics have pinpointed fresh porphyry targets. A 5,000-metre drill program this year will upgrade resources and chase depth extensions.

“Arizaro could be a game changer once we tie it into Lindero’s mill and pad,” said Jorge Kesting, the deposit’s co-discoverer and Mansfield’s director of exploration.

His smile gave away an air of complete career satisfaction after holding a doré bar freshly poured because of the discovery he helped make 25 years ago.

Listen below to Kesting discussing how he co-discovered the Arizaro and Lindero deposits in 1999 (we apologize for the poor sound quality).

Organic growth pipeline

On the corporate front, Ganoza points to two more pillars of organic growth for the company. Its flagship Séguéla mine in Ivory Coast plans to lift annual output from 137,800 oz. gold last year to 160,000 to 180,000 oz. at all-in sustaining costs of $1,260 to $1,390 per oz. by 2026.

In Senegal, the Diamba Sud project calls for a $19-million push and about 10,000 to 11,000 metres of drilling plus parallel engineering and permitting. This is to speed a deposit that may hold 1 million oz. or more into development.

“We’re running three parallel tracks…so we can fast‑track the project and not run into bottlenecks,” Ganoza said.

Fortuna has tightened its focus by divesting end-of-life mines. San Jose in Mexico carried high costs and dwindling resources. Yaramoko in Burkina Faso held only a year of reserves. Selling Yaramoko for $70 million upfront and San Jose to a private buyer frees capital and management’s attention for decadelong assets, Ganoza said

‘Second ore body’

Lindero shells a stark desert but depends on local talent. Salta province is home to three-quarters of the 376 staff; 22% hail from Tolar Grande 80 km away. Fortuna funds a health clinic, upgrades schools and runs a virtual university centre so high school graduates need not leave home.

“We have had a permanent office since 2018,” Velasco said. He calls community ties Lindero’s second orebody.

From near to far, the flags of Canada, Salta province, and Argentina flutter in the crisp mountain air at Fortuna Mining’s Lindero gold mine in Salta, Argentina. Credit: Henry Lazenby

The road ahead

Under a sky that shifts from cobalt dawn to dust-swirled dusk, the cycle ticks on: blast, crush, stack, leach, pour. With stage-three mining still cutting the core and Arizaro drilling underway, Lindero’s next chapter rests on geology.

“Everything hinges on drilling,” Velasco said. “One good hit changes the script.”