11:53 AM EDT, 03/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. ( FSM ) reported Monday the discovery of the new Kingfisher prospect at the Seguela mine in Cote d'Ivoire.

Drill highlights from the Kingfisher prospect include 5.2 g/t gold over 8.4 meters, 1.9 g/t gold over 17.5 meters and 2.9 g/t gold over 19.6 meters.

The results were from a 2,040-meter drill program at Kingfisher that identified three lodes along a 1.9-kilometer strike, all of which remain open along strike and at depth.

Fortuna expects to conduct additional drilling at Kingfisher in the second quarter.

"Emphasizing the exploration potential at Seguela, the team has continued their impressive run-rate of discoveries with the new Kingfisher prospect," said Paul Weedon, senior vice president of Exploration at Fortuna. "This follows the Barana, Badior and Kestrel discoveries made during 2022 and 2023."

The company also outlined exploration results from the recently acquired Diamba Sud gold project in Senegal.

Results include 3.5 g/t gold over 23.4 meters and 6.0 g/t gold over 32.0 meters.

"In addition to improving the confidence at Area A, Area D, and Karakara, drilling intersected several mineralized zones extending beyond the historic pit optimization shells," Weedon said. "These extensions will be incorporated into a resource model to be prepared later in 2024."

Fortuna at last look gained 6.1% on the TSX and rose 6% on the NYSE in early Monday trading.

Meanwhile, National Bank of Canada said the intercepts were encouraging as they showed a depth of brownfield and potential next mine opportunity.

The bank ascribed a neutral bias to the results.

National Bank gave Fortuna a sector perform rating with a $5.35 price target.

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