Name of the Mine
Fruta del Norte (FDN) mine.

Location  
FDN is situated in the province of Zamora Chinchipe, in Ecuador.

Mine Owner/s  
Gold and silver mining company Lundin Gold Inc.

Brief Description  
The FDN underground mine 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. 

The underground mining operation provides ore to an on-site processing plant with a current throughput capacity of 4 400 t/d.

Brief History  
Lundin Gold acquired FDN from Canadian-based gold and silver mining company Kinross Gold Corporation in late 2014 and started construction in July 2017. 

The mine poured first gold in November 2019, and declared commercial production in February 2020.

Primary Metals/Minerals  
Gold concentrate and doré.

Secondary Metals/Minerals  
Silver.

Geology/Mineralisation  
The FDN deposit is located within a 150-km-long copper/gold metallogenic subprovince, located in the Cordillera del Cóndor region of Ecuador. The deposit is hosted by andesites of the Santiago Formation and feldspar porphyry intrusions.

Mineralisation is characterised by intense, multiphase quartz–sulphide, carbonate stockwork veining and brecciation over broad widths, typically between 100 m  to 150 m wide. This occurs in the coherent central and northern parts of the system, where the gold and silver grades are highest. Mineralised shoots are typically present within dilatant zones developed along inflections of vein strike or dip where the geometry permits maximum opening at the time of mineralisation.

The mineralogy of FDN encompasses chalcedonic to crystalline quartz, manganese-carbonates, calcite, adularia, barite, marcasite, and pyrite, as well as subordinate sphalerite, galena, and chalcopyrite, and traces of tetrahedrite and silver sulphosalts. 

The majority of the gold is microscopic and associated with quartz, carbonates and sulphides, and is free milling, but the mineralisation is moderately refractory, with about 40% of the gold locked in sulphides. However, coarse visible gold is commonly observed. Individual gold grains range from discrete specks less than 0.1 mm in size to broccoli-like, arborescent crystals more than 10 mm across. Visible gold occurs in all mineralised zones, in quartz or carbonate, as well as within pyrite or silver sulphosalt clusters.

Reserves  
Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2023, were estimated at 21.7-million tonnes grading 7.89 g/t gold and 11.3 g/t silver.

Resources  
Measured and indicated resources as at December 31, 2023, were estimated at 23.53-million tonnes grading 9.24 g/t gold and 12.6 g/t silver. Inferred resources were estimated at 7.98-million tonnes grading 5.77 g/t gold and 11.3 g/t silver.

Type of Mine
Underground.

Mining Method  
The current mining method is longhole transverse stoping in fair to good ground and drift-and-fill stoping in poor ground.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment  
FDN includes:

• a main access road; 
• an underground mine; 
• a process plant;
• a main grid power line;
• a mobile equipment maintenance shop;
• the mine office/dry building; 
• main office building;
• fixed plant maintenance, fabrication and electrical workshops;
• a laboratory; 
• a warehouse and laydown area; 
• short-term concentrate container storage;
• permanent camp and kitchen facilities; 
• a greenhouse; 
• communications and IT systems; 
• security access control at the main gate along the access road and at the process plant; 
• waste storage facilities; 
• a quarry; 
• stockpiles; and
• tailings storage facility.

FDN relies on mobile equipment to haul mined materials to surface instead of permanent infrastructure. Haul trucks are maintained in a surface maintenance facility. Load–haul–dump vehicles, drills, explosive carriers and scissor trucks are repaired/maintained underground or driven to the surface shop for major work. 

The paste plant is a batch-type backfill plant. 

Prospects  
Lundin Gold's near-mine exploration programme's footprint is being expanded to incorporate additional land. The programme will focus on extending the mine life of FDN by exploring several advanced targets within and around the FDN system, including but not limited to FDN, FDN South, FDN East, FDN North and the Bonza Sur deposit.  

Contact Details 
Lundin Gold Inc 
Tel +1 604 689 7842 
Email info@lundingold.com
Website https://lundingold.com/