(Kitco News) Fortuna Mining plans to lift its annual gold output by about 60% over the next 18 months, and it intends to pay for the two West African projects behind that growth without raising equity.
“We have placed ourselves in a unique position to grow production by roughly about 60% in terms of annual gold output over the next 18 months,” CEO Jorge A. Ganoza told Kitco Mining on Sept. 28 at the 2026 Mining Forum Americas in Colorado Springs.
Fortuna produces around 300,000 gold equivalent ounces a year from three mines. A $109 million, 30% mill expansion at Séguéla in Côte d’Ivoire should lift that mine from about 160,000 ounces of gold a year to 200,000, Ganoza said, with commissioning scheduled for the third quarter of 2028. The Diamba Sud project in Senegal is expected to add 160,000 to 180,000 ounces a year by mid-2028. A June feasibility study for Diamba Sud outlined probable reserves of 1.15 million ounces.
The two builds and exploration will cost about $650 million over the next two years. Ganoza said Fortuna ended the second quarter with more than $750 million in liquidity and net cash above $430 million.
“Many times in this industry, growth requires a discovery, an acquisition, or leveraging the balance sheet and diluting shareholders through equity raisings,” he said. “We’re in a unique position with our balance sheet. Instead of financing these expansions, we’re funding them through cash flow and cash on hand.”
Fortuna returned more than $100 million through buybacks in the first half of 2026 and prefers them to a dividend while construction is underway. “We like the buybacks for us now over a dividend because it’s more flexible, and we’re going into a capital-intensive phase with these two builds,” Ganoza said, adding that “as we advance with our constructions we will certainly revisit instituting a dividend.”
Séguéla’s expansion rests on discoveries such as Sunbird, which will be mined underground and, by Ganoza’s estimate, holds roughly 1 million ounces. Sunbird should eventually supply up to 40% of mill feed, with portal construction set for the second quarter of 2027. “The bigger story here is, Fortuna controls its growth,” he said.
That means no need to buy production. “We are in no rush to go into acquiring or doing aggressive M&A to acquire something that can fit into our pipeline because our growth is taken care of over the short, medium term,” Ganoza said.
Instead, Fortuna is placing early bets for the end of the decade, including its stake in Awale Resources and an earn-in on the Quartzstone project in Guyana, about 35 kilometers north of G Mining’s Oko West. “I don’t like to do proximology, but geology is very similar,” Ganoza said. A granted concession in Guyana comes with drill permits. “So time to drill has been basically reduced to zero.”
Fuel has had less effect on costs than many expect. “For every $10 that crude rises in price, it impacts our AISC about $12 to $14 per ounce,” Ganoza said. Royalties, which rise with the gold price, have had more effect.
He also senses investors pressing miners to grow. “I see building pressure on show growth, do something exciting,” Ganoza said. Fortuna’s response, he added, is restraint: “It’s for us to remain disciplined and cautious.”
On Oct. 7, Fortuna reported third-quarter production of 69,665 gold equivalent ounces and said it remains on track for 2026 guidance of 281,000 to 305,000. Séguéla output dipped after contractor equipment problems and a blockade by artisanal miners, and the company expects it to recover in the fourth quarter. Diamba Sud is heading for a final investment decision this quarter, with first gold targeted for the second quarter of 2028.
On Oct. 13, Fortuna reported further drilling at Diamba Sud, including 7.8 grams per tonne gold over 12.8 meters at Southern Arc, and said six rigs had started at Bambadji, the property next door it acquired in August. Its Kabewest target, 2.3 kilometers from the planned plant, is slated for a first inferred resource in the first quarter of 2027.
On Oct. 20, Fortuna reported infill drilling at its Lindero mine in Argentina that extended gold mineralization below the current pit design, including 0.96 grams per tonne gold over a drilled length of 350 meters from surface in hole LDH-272. The company is updating Lindero’s block model and pit design by year-end, with a revised reserve estimate planned for the first quarter of 2027.
“We have the ounces in the inventory, the projects in the portfolio, and the cash in the balance sheet,” Ganoza said.
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