Canadian miner Fortuna Mining Corp. agreed to acquire the Bambadji gold exploration project in Senegal from subsidiaries of Barrick Mining Corp. and IAMGOLD Corp. for $200 million in cash, consolidating a large land package next to its own development asset.
The 190-square-kilometer property sits immediately east of Fortuna’s feasibility-stage Diamba Sud project and extends roughly 60 kilometers along the Senegal-Mali Shear Zone, a major West African gold belt. The deal, announced Monday, gives Fortuna control of contiguous ground with established road access to Diamba Sud, which holds 1.15 million ounces of gold reserves and is nearing a final investment decision.
“Bambadji represents a rare opportunity to consolidate a large-scale, highly prospective exploration land package immediately adjacent to our feasibility-stage Diamba Sud Gold Project,” Chief Executive Jorge A. Ganoza said in a statement. The price “reflects multiple prime drill-defined targets, the scale of the land package, the extensive historical exploration dataset, and the potential to materially expand Diamba Sud.”
Bambadji comes with an extensive database that includes about 214,000 meters of historical drilling. Prior work has outlined at least eight drill-defined prospects and several open mineralized trends. Selected intercepts include 2.12 grams per tonne gold over 52.9 meters and 2.34 g/t over 45 meters at Kabewest, 3.76 g/t over 47 meters at Kabetea, and 9.28 g/t over 18 meters in the Bagata Corridor. Most historical holes were shallow and widely spaced.
Fortuna has budgeted $8 million for the rest of 2026 to complete 51,000 meters of reverse-circulation and diamond drilling, starting in the third quarter. Initial work will target eight priority zones within 20 kilometers of the planned Diamba Sud plant site.
Of the $200 million purchase price, $130.35 million went to a Barrick subsidiary and $69.65 million to an IAMGOLD unit. The sellers also received a combined 0.5% net smelter return royalty on the first 1.75 million ounces of gold produced from the Bambadji Nord portion of the property. TD Securities advised Fortuna.
Fortuna, which operates mines in Latin America and West Africa, said the acquisition strengthens its position in one of the region’s most prospective gold districts where assembling quality ground has become increasingly difficult.
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