First large scale gold mine in Ecuador
The 100% owned Fruta del Norte gold mine in southeast Ecuador is one of the highest grade, lowest costing gold mines in the world. The deposit is hosted in the La Zarza concession, located in the 38km2 Suarez Pull-Apart Basin. Fruta del Norte is an underground mine, producing gold concentrate and doré. Lundin Gold acquired the asset in late 2014, began construction in July 2017, poured first gold in November 2019, and declared commercial production in February 2020.
The Fruta del Norte deposit is located within a 150 km long copper–gold metallogenic sub-province in the Cordillera del Cóndor region in south eastern Ecuador.
Fruta Del Norte Facts
| LOCATION | Southeast Ecuador |
|---|---|
| OWNERSHIP | 100% |
| MINE TYPE | Underground |
| PROBABLE RESERVES | 5.54 million ounces of gold grading 7.81 grams per tonne |
| MEASURED AND INDICATED RESOURCES | 7.06 million ounces of gold grading 7.17 grams per tonne |
| INFERRED RESOURCES | 2.36 million ounces of gold grading 5.27 grams per tonne |
| LIFE OF MINE | ~12 years |
| FUTURE PRODUCTION | Average of 340,000 ounces gold per year |
| INFRASTRUCTURE | 21 km road and 42 km powerline connect Fruta del Norte to Ecuador’s national highway system and power grid |
| NEAREST CITY | Loja |
| ACCESS | Via a 150km long paved highway through the town of Los Encuentros to the Zamora River Bridge, then a <10 km long public/private gravel road to the Fruta del Norte site. |
2006
DiscoveryFruta del Norte discovered in 2006 by Aurelian Resources
- 2006 Initial Drill Program
Third drill hole of a three-hole drill program intersected an average of 4.14 g/t gold and 8.5 g/t silver over 237.3m.
2007
- Initial Inferred Mineral Resource
Estimate was released in late 2007, consisting of 58.9 Mt grading 7.23 g/t gold and 11.8 g/t silver, at a cut-off grade of 2.3 g/t gold-equivalent.
2008-2014
- 2008 Acquisition
Kinross Gold Corporation acquired the asset in 2008 for approximately C$1.2 billion.
- Further drilling, Mineral Resource updates, and PFS
Kinross announced that it would not proceed with development of the Fruta del Norte project.
2014
- Lundin Gold acquired Fruta del Norte
In December 2014, Lundin Gold acquired Fruta del Norte from Kinross, along with Kinross’s other concessions in Ecuador for US$240 million.
2016
- Independent Feasibility Study
The Company completed an independent feasibility study for the Fruta del Norte project
- Mine Development
Commenced development of the Fruta del Norte mine
2017-2019
- Development & Construction
Lundin Gold focused on the development and construction of Fruta del Norte
- Financing
Company secured the necessary financing
2019
- Initial Gold Production
Lundin Gold had met its objective of achieving first gold production at Fruta del Norte
2020
- Commercial Production
Reached commercial production at Fruta del Norte
Geology and Mineralization
The Fruta del Norte deposit is an intermediate sulphidation epithermal gold–silver deposit measuring approximately 1,670 m along strike, 700 m down dip, and between 150 m and 300 m wide. The top of the deposit is covered by approximately 200 m of post mineralization rocks. The deposit is truncated by a fault to the west and north, while the southern limit of the mineralization has not been fully defined.
Operational Overview
Fruta del Norte is an underground mining operation providing ore to an on-site processing plant with a current throughput capacity of 4,200 tonnes per day (tpd).
