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    Fruta del Norte bonanza intercepts: resource and expansion lens for mine planners

    May 7, 2026|

    Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

    Fruta del Norte bonanza intercepts: resource and expansion lens for mine planners

    First reported on MINING.com

    30 Second Briefing

    Lundin Gold has reported bonanza-grade intercepts at Fruta del Norte in Ecuador, including 7.5 metres at 667.78 g/t Au from 19 metres in hole FDN-C25-374 and 8 metres at 523.01 g/t Au from 23 metres in FDN-C26-380 in the South zone. Additional drilling at Fruta del Norte East returned 5.9 metres at 20.34 g/t Au from 299 metres and 4.2 metres at 169.93 g/t Au from 427.5 metres, supporting resource conversion around the existing 5,500 t/d operation. Lundin has budgeted a record US$85 million for 133,000 metres of drilling in 2026, with 17 rigs targeting both epithermal gold and copper-gold porphyry systems ahead of mine-life and throughput expansion decisions.

    Technical Brief

    • Lundin targets 475,000–525,000 oz/year from 2026–2028 at an average head grade of 8.3 g/t Au.
    • Fruta del Norte South currently hosts 2.5 Mt inferred at 6.66 g/t Au (540,000 oz contained).
    • Total measured and indicated resources are 32.6 Mt at 7.13 g/t Au for 7.48 Moz.
    • Inferred resources add a further 10.3 Mt at 6.17 g/t Au for 2.03 Moz.
    • Of the US$85 million 2026 exploration budget, 125,000 m of the 133,000 m drilling is near‑mine/conversion.
    • Seventeen rigs are active across epithermal gold and copper–gold porphyry targets within the Fruta del Norte district.
    • For similar epithermal systems, such sustained near‑mine drilling density materially improves confidence in stope design and sequencing.

    Our Take

    In our database, recent Fruta del Norte coverage includes Lundin Gold’s use of Fleet Space’s ExoSphere and agile geoscience workflows to refine drill targeting, which helps explain how such very high-grade gold intercepts are being hit at relatively shallow depths in the South and East zones.

    The bonanza gold results at the Fruta del Norte property come only weeks after Lundin Gold outlined a large nearby copper–gold porphyry intrusive complex, suggesting the Ecuador mine area is evolving from a single high-grade underground operation into a broader multi-deposit gold–copper district.

    Lundin Gold’s decision to monetise a silver stream at Fruta del Norte for about C$670 million, alongside an $85 million-plus exploration budget and 17 active rigs, indicates the company is using by-product silver value to fund aggressive gold-focused resource growth without relying solely on conventional equity or debt.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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