Séguéla revamp sets up decade of 200,000‑oz production

Fortuna Mining (TSX: FVI)(NYSE: FSM) is expanding its Séguéla gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire. The 30% increase in processing capacity, from 1.75 million tonnes per year to 2.3 million tonnes, is expected to lift average gold recovery to 94.5%.

The company says the expansion will allow for an average annual production of 200,000 ounces of gold over the next decade, with a projected payback period of 2.5 years.  

“Séguéla has consistently exceeded expectations since entering production in mid-2023 and continues to demonstrate strong growth potential,” said Fortuna’s CEO Jorge A. Ganoza. He added the project “advances Fortuna’s objective of increasing consolidated annual gold rate of production toward 500,000 ounces by 2028.”

The expansion also adds the Sunbird underground mine, with development starting in 2027 to help feed the upgraded plant. 

The news follows recent progress at the company’s Diamba Sud gold project in Senegal. Supported by a new study that took into account updated gold prices, the company almost doubled the value of that project.

Located in Côte d’Ivoire’s Woroba District, about 500 kilometres from Abidjan, Séguéla is an open-pit mine consisting of eight gold deposits. As of 2025, the company employed more than 1,800 workers and contractors on the property.

Project overview

The overhaul will cost about $109 million, funded through operating cash flow and backed by Fortuna’s roughly $800‑million liquidity, according to the company. 

Included in the upgrades are comminution changes that add a ball mill circuit, new gravity equipment and a second carbon-in-leach train to lift recoveries. Also included are infrastructure boosts to reagent, oxygen, water and tailings systems to support the higher processing rate.

Fortuna says the staged plan will take Séguéla from early works in 2026 to fully expanded mill capacity by late 2028.