-- Fortuna Mining (FVI.TO) on Monday said it has entered into an earn-in agreement with private Guyanese company Qstone for the Quartzstone project in north central Guyana.
Under the agreement, Fortuna may earn up to a 70% interest in the Quartzstone project.
Fortuna may earn an initial 51% interest in the project by completing a minimum of 60,000 meters of drilling within four years, while paying all license fees and funding all related expenditures. Upon exercise of the first option, Fortuna will form a joint venture with Qstone.
Fortuna may earn an additional 19% interest in the project by solely funding a feasibility study within three years of exercising the first option and continuing to pay all license fees.
In addition to royalties payable to the state on gold production, the Quartzstone project is subject to a 4.5% net smelter returns royalty in favor of a prior owner, which may be repurchased.
Historical drilling has identified multiple high grade zones of near-surface gold mineralization at the project.
Fortuna's initial exploration program, budgeted at about US$5.5 million, will focus on advancing priority targets already defined at Quartzstone while generating additional targets along the highly prospective 26-kilometer main shear zone.