Transcript • Feb. 19, 2026 5:00 PM • Fortuna Mining Corp. (FSM)
Transcript
Feb. 19, 2026 5:00 PM
Fortuna Mining Corp. (FSM)
Matthew: and welcome to the Fortuna Mining Corps fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial and operational results call. At this time, all participants are placed on a listen-only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation. It is now my pleasure to hand the floor over to your host, Carlos Baca, Vice President of Investor Relations. Sir, the floor is yours.
Carlos Baca: Thank you, Matthew. Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Fortuna Mining's conference call to discuss our financial and operational results for fourth quarter and full year 2025. Hosting today's call on behalf of Fortuna are Jorge Alberto Ganosa, president, chief executive officer, and co-founder. Luis Darío Ganosa, chief financial officer. Cesar Velasco, chief operating officer, Latin America. David Whittle, chief operating officer, West Africa. Today's earnings call presentation is available on our website at fortunamining.com. Statements made during this call are subject to the reader's advisories included in yesterday's news release and webcast presentation or management discussion and analysis and the risk factors outlined in our annual information form. All financial figures discussed today are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. Technical information presented has been reviewed and approved by Eric Chapman, Fortuna Senior Vice President of Technical Services, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. I will now turn the call over to Jorge Alberto Ganosa, President, Chief Executive Officer, and co-founder of Fortuna Mining.
Jorge Alberto Ganosa: Jorge Alberto Ganosa Thank you, Carlos. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I'll start very briefly with the quarter before moving to our growth outlook. In the quarter, we delivered record adjusted net income of 23 cents per share, generally in line with analysts' consensus. Net cash from operations before working capital adjustments was a strong 48 cents per share, exceeding consensus estimates of 43 cents. We also generated record free cash flow of $132 million for the quarter, And again, record $330 million for the full year, highlighting the strength of our operations and balance sheet, which ranks amongst the strongest in our peer group, with over $700 million in liquidity and a net cash position of approximately $380 million. With that context, let me turn to the more important part of the story now, which is growth and value creation. As we have stated, our objective is clear. To grow Fortuna to more than half a million ounces of annual gold production from long-life assets, achieving this over the next 24 months, this will represent approximately 65% growth from current production levels. Importantly, this is growth that we control. The ounces are already contained within our mineral inventory across advanced projects in our portfolio. As this production comes online, we expect it to translate into meaningful growth in free cash flow per share, supported by scale, asset quality, good geographic distribution, and capital discipline. The delivery of this growth is driven by two core assets, the AMBA suit in Senegal, and Seguela in the Ivory Coast. Starting with the ambasud, the project continues to advance on a fast-track approach towards a formal construction decision in mid-year, aligned with the publication of the feasibility study. This morning, we released an updated mineral resource estimate showing a 73% increase in indicated resources to 1.25 million ounces of gold, which will form the key foundation for the study. For 2026, we have approved a $100 million budget at the Ambasud, with $67 million of that allocated to early works, which include the camp facilities, major excavations, and other enabling infrastructure. We began breaking ground this week, and we filed our exploitation permit application earlier this month. marking important execution milestones. Mineralization at Diamba remains wide open, and we continue to carry out aggressive drilling in parallel with project development activities as we pursue further resource growth while growing, continuing, and de-risking the project timeline. Turning to Seguela, we're preparing for the next phase of growth through a plant upgrade study currently underway, evaluating throughput expansion options that potentially take the mine to 200,000 ounces of annual production. This work builds on recent reserve growth and positions Seguela to deliver higher production and cash flow from an already high quality long life asset. In summary, Fortuna's growth to over half a million ounces is visible, controlled, and executable, supported by a strong balance sheet, a sound base of mineral resources and reserves, and a clear focus on per share value creation. With that, I'll turn the call over to the operating team. David, you want to share your update?
David Whittle: Thank you, Jorge. Segala delivered another strong quarter, and for the second consecutive year, exceeded the upper end of production guidance. This consistent outperformance reflects the strength of the operation and the quality of the asset. Encouragingly, recent exploration drilling results are adding further momentum, presenting opportunities to increase production levels beyond the current mine plan assumptions. At Diambasur in Senegal, the project continues to advance on schedule. Early works programs have been approved. Key contracts are being tendered and awarded, and the project team is mobilizing in preparation for the next development phase. Importantly, during the fourth quarter, no significant incidents were recorded across our West African operations. underscoring our commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace for all personnel. At Segala, we produced 36,942 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter, consistent with prior quarters and ahead of the mine plan. For the full year, production totaled 152,426 ounces, exceeding the operandum guidance by 4%. Mining during the quarter totaled 340,000 tons of ore at an average grade of 3.71 grams per tonne gold, along with 3.92 billion tons of waste, resulting in a strict ratio of 11.5 to 1. The processing plant treated 410,000 tons of ore at an average grade of 3.01 grams per tonne gold, with throughput averaging 214 tons per hour. All was primarily sourced from the Antenna, Ancien, and Cooler fits, with waste mining also commencing for the Sunbird fit. The Sunbird underground project continues to advance strongly. Based on drilling completed through to the end of June 2025, we declared a reserve of just over 400,000 ounces. During the second half of 2025, five diamond drill rigs were allocated to Sunbird, delivering excellent results that support further resource growth. Given the strength of the Sunbird underground and the incorporation of Kingfisher Open Fit into the life of my plan, we've identified an opportunity to increase plant capacity like a podium The original plant builder has been engaged to evaluate expansion options, targeting 3 foot of between 2 and 2.5 million tons per year. Early indications are positive, and we expect to complete the study early this year. So GALA's strong operational performance translated into a cash cost of $710 per ounce of gold for the quarter and $679 per ounce for the year. basic was $1,576 per ounce of gold for the quarter and $1,560 per ounce for the year. At the midpoint of guidance, despite an $86 per ounce impact from higher royalties, increased gold prices. Cost discipline remains a clear strength of the operation. In 2026, exploration drilling will continue at pace, with increased focus on in-field drilling and step-out testing along strike and at depth at Kingfisher, as well as continued evaluation of additional targets across the 35-kilometre striping of the Sagala land package. Drilling at Sunbird Underground will also continue as we advance technical studies and progressed permitting activities. Capital has already been allocated for long-lead underground mining equipment. Turning to the AMBA SUD, exploration, environmental permitting, and feasibility work advanced meaningfully during the quarter. Government approvals were received for early works programs, and the ESIA is in its final stages of approval. Following the rainy season, fuel rigs were remobilized at Southern Arc and other deposits with continued positive results, further strengthening our confidence in this already robust package. Thank you. Back to yourself, Jorge.
Jorge Alberto Ganosa: Thank you, David. Now Cesar will share the update on LATAM operations. Cesar, please.
Cesar Velasco: Thank you, Jorge, and good afternoon, everyone. Our Latin American operation delivered resilient performance in 2025 with no reportable safety incidents, supported by strong production execution during the first three quarters of Lindero and consistent results at Cayoma throughout the year, where base metal production exceeded the upper end of guidance. Four-quarter results at Lindero were impacted by mechanical downtime in the crushing circuit, which affected full-year production. At Lindero, full-year gold production totaled 87,489 ounces, approximately 6% below the lower end of Cagans, affected entirely by the fourth-quarter production, which totaled 19,201 ounces of gold, driven by two independent mechanical interruptions during the same period. An engineering review identified structural fatigue risk in the primary crusher foundations. To address the root cause, we have approved a 35-day foundation replacement schedule for late March 2026 at an estimated cost of $2.2 million. Port is being pre-stockpiled to maintain tacking continuity during the repair. This has been fully considered within our production plan and guidance for the year. From a financial perspective, Lindero generated $294.2 million in annual gold sales and EBITDA margin remained strong at 57% to sales. Cash costs of $1,117 dollars per ounce of gold for Q4 and $1,132 for the year well within guidance range. Q4 all-in sustaining cost improved to $1,639 per ounce of gold due to lower sustaining capital and reduced stripping offset by the impact of maintenance interventions and temporary crushing solutions. ASIC for the full year of $1,716 per ounce within guidance range. We are currently conducting approximately 6,500 meters of diamond drilling below the pit bottom where mineralization remains open at depth. The objective of this program is to upgrade an estimated 400,000 ounces of infer resources to the indicated and measured categories. These resources are located beyond the limits of the current final pit design and the resources pit shell. Lindero remains a high margin, long life mine with strong fundamentals. Now turning to Cayoma, the operation continues to deliver consistent and disciplined performance throughout 2025. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Cayoma produced 250,000 ounces of silver at an average head grade of 65 grams per ton, maintaining production levels in line with the previous quarter. Zinc and lead production totaled 12.1 million and 8.4 million pounds, respectively, at an average head grades of 4.32% zinc and 2.95% lead. Production remained steady quarter over quarter, as mining continues from the same levels and slopes, supporting predictable meal feed and recovery.
Operator: For the full year production of... Ladies and gentlemen, please remain on the line while we reconnect the speaker to the conference room. Thank you for your patience. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, please remain on the line while we reconnect the speaker to the conference room. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, please remain on the line while I reconnect the speaker to your conference. And Carlos, your line is connected.
Matthew: Your line is live.
Carlos Baca: Yeah, we're back. Okay.
Jorge Alberto Ganosa: I think we can move on to the financial summary with the CFO. Luis, please go ahead. Thank you. So attributable net income for the quarter was
