Drilling at the Fruta Norte Gold Mine in Ecuador Uncovers High-Grade Ore

According to Mining.com, Lundin Gold intersected high-grade ore bodies in drilling at the Fruta del Norte gold mine in southeastern Ecuador, and the company is advancing its resource conversion plan for the Fruta del Norte South (FDNS) sector next year.

In a November 20 update, the company announced excellent results from resource conversion drilling at FDNS. Among them, hole FDN-C25-305 intersected 5.2 meters of ore at a depth of 40.6 meters, grading 491.62 grams per mt of gold. This included a 1.1-meter interval grading 2,286 grams per mt.

Other significant intersections from the drilling program included: FDN-C25-260 intersecting 6.30 meters grading 41.46 g/mt Au at 60 meters depth; FDN-C25-261 intersecting 10.5 meters grading 22.76 g/mt Au at 80 meters depth; and FDN-C25-259 intersecting 6.3 meters grading 33.71 g/mt Au at 39 meters depth.

"We are pleased with the significant drilling results in 2025, which continue to demonstrate the great potential of Fruta del Norte," said Jamie Beck, President and CEO of Lundin Gold, in a news release. "At FDNS, resource conversion drilling has encountered the highest grades to date, marking an important milestone as we advance towards an initial resource estimate next year, less than two years after the FDNS discovery."

FDNS, discovered in 2024 on the southern edge of the main ore body, is an epithermal vein deposit with an inferred resource of 12.35 million mt grading 5.25 g/mt Au, containing 2.09 million ounces of gold. The deposit lies within the FDN mining concession. FDN, one of the world's highest-grade gold mines, has an expected mine life of 12 years.

Extending Mine Life

The recent drilling builds upon a series of high-grade results at FDNS. The nearby Fruta del Norte East (FDNE) deposit was discovered earlier this year.

In July, Lundin Gold reported high-grade intersections at FDNS. Hole FDN-C25-238 intersected 9.05 meters grading 139.53 g/mt Au, and hole FDN-C25-234 intersected 4.2 meters grading 220.32 g/mt Au. This aided in delineating new high-grade ore bodies outside the existing geological model's outer ring.

FDNE is located 100 meters east of the existing underground mine. Recent drilling indicates an epithermal vein-style ore body with multiple sub-parallel structures, extending approximately 500 meters along strike and remaining open. Hole UGE-E-25-328 intersected 10.8 meters grading 14.10 g/mt Au at a depth of 332 meters, including a 2.4-meter interval grading 56.09 g/mt Au. Hole UGE-E-25-360 intersected 15.05 meters of ore at a depth of 226.3 meters, with a gold grade of 9.27 g/mt, including a 4.2-meter-thick ore body grading 17.51 g/mt gold.

Beck stated that these results indicate FDNS is a "large mineralizing system" beyond previous imagination, while FDNE is "a new shallow epithermal vein deposit near existing infrastructure with significant upside potential."

With drilling success and the emergence of broader porphyry targets, Lundin Gold has expanded its 2025 drilling program from 80,000 meters to at least 120,000 meters, deploying 17 rigs within the Fruta del Norte concession to carry out its largest drilling campaign.

New Reserves

Since January, underground drilling at FDNS has focused on upgrading inferred resources to the indicated category for inclusion in the Fruta del Norte mine plan. This year, Lundin Gold completed 97 holes totaling 16,282 meters at FDNS, improving confidence in the geological model, defining high-grade zones, and extending the ore body beyond the existing resource boundaries.

All new data will be used for the first reserve and resource update for FDNS and FDNE in Q1 2026. Concurrently, mine engineering studies will be conducted based on geotechnical, metallurgical, and infrastructure requirements.

These efforts are part of the company’s strategy to advance exploration around the mine to sustain or extend the life of Fruta del Norte. The mine commenced production in 2020 and produced 502,029 ounces of gold last year. The company is drilling around the initial ore body to achieve reserve replacement and add new reserves, while studying how and when to incorporate satellite deposits like FDNS into the production schedule.

High Grade

In February, Lundin Gold updated Fruta del Norte’s resources and reserves, reporting proven and probable reserves of 22.06 million mt at a gold grade of 7.81 g/mt, containing 5.54 million ounces of gold. Measured and indicated mineral resources (including reserves) totaled 30.62 million mt grading 7.17 g/mt gold, for 7.06 million ounces of gold. Inferred resources were 13.95 million mt at 5.27 g/mt gold, representing 2.36 million ounces of gold, reflecting growth potential from FDNS.

Compared with the global average gold grade of 1.26 g/mt for producing gold mines compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Fruta del Norte’s grade is several times higher. This places Fruta del Norte among the highest-grade underground gold mines. Lundin Gold stated that FDNS, FDNE, and regional porphyry targets along the Zamora copper-gold belt are critical to maintaining this status.

The company has designated Fruta del Norte as "one of the world's highest-grade producing gold mines" and hopes that newly discovered peripheral deposits will help maintain this status.