Fortuna Mining Enters Agreement with Qstone for Up to 70% Interest
Fortuna Mining announced it has entered into an earn-in agreement with Qstone, a private Guyanese company, pursuant to which Fortuna may earn up to a 70% interest in the Quartzstone Project, a large land package comprising 29,600 hectares located in the greenstone belt of north central Guyana. A total of 183 diamond core drill holes, comprising 23,190 meters, were completed between 2010 and 2017. Drilling along a five-kilometer corridor identified multiple zones of high grade near-surface gold mineralization. The Quartzstone Project is located approximately 120 kilometers west of Georgetown and 35 kilometers northwest of G Mining's Oko West project. The Project hosts an orogenic gold system along the contact between a granitoid complex and Lower Proterozoic greenstone rocks within the Guyana Shield, a geological setting known for significant gold deposits. Fortuna's initial exploration program, budgeted at approximately $5.5M, will focus on advancing priority targets already defined at Quartzstone, while generating additional targets along the highly prospective 26 kilometer main shear zone. Planned work includes airborne magnetic surveys to develop a detailed structural framework, supported by high-resolution satellite imagery and digital elevation modelling. Field programs will include infill geochemical sampling, auger drilling, and detailed geological and regolith mapping over prospective geophysical targets and known anomalous areas. An initial 5,000 meter diamond drilling program is planned to test historical targets and workings, as well as priority structural corridors along the main contact and northeast-trending intersections. Fortuna may earn an initial 51% interest in the Quartzstone Project by completing a minimum of 60,000 meters of drilling within four years, while paying all license fees and funding all related expenditures. Upon exercise of the first option, Fortuna will form a joint venture with Qstone. Fortuna may earn an additional 19% interest in the Quartzstone Project, for an aggregate 70% interest, by solely funding a feasibility study within three years of exercising the first option and continuing to pay all license fees. Upon signing the Earn-In Agreement, the Company paid Qstone a non-refundable cash option premium of $5M.
