Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property, Salta Province, Argentina Technical Report Effective Date: October 31, 2017 Prepared by Eric Chapman, P.Geo. Vice President of Technical Services - Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. Edwin Gutierrez, SME Registered Member Technical Services Manager – Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. Geoff Allard, PE Consultant – Allard Engineering Services LLC Denys Parra Murrugarra, SME Registered Member General Manager – Anddes Asociados S.A.C. Suite 650, 200 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 3L6 Tel: (604) 484 4085, Fax: (604) 484 4029 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report Date and Signature Page Technical Report Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property, Salta Province, Argentina Effective date of this report is October 31, 2017 Issued by: Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. Eric Chapman 31st October 2017 [signed and sealed] Date Edwin Gutierrez 31st October 2017 [signed] Date Geoff Allard 31st October 2017 [signed] Date Denys Parra Murrugarra 31st October 2017 [signed] Date October 31, 2017 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report Contents 1 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 22 Introduction .................................................................................................... 22 Property description, location and ownership ................................................ 22 History ............................................................................................................ 23 Geology and mineralization ............................................................................ 24 Exploration, drilling and sampling ................................................................. 26 Data verification ............................................................................................. 28 Mineral processing and metallurgical testing ................................................. 28 Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves ...................................................... 30 Mining methods .............................................................................................. 31 Recovery methods .......................................................................................... 32 Project infrastructure ...................................................................................... 33 Market studies and contracts .......................................................................... 33 Environmental studies and permitting ............................................................ 34 Capital and operating costs ............................................................................. 35 Economic analysis .......................................................................................... 35 Other relevant data and information ............................................................... 36 Conclusions, risks, and opportunities ............................................................. 36 Recommendations .......................................................................................... 38 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 40 Report purpose ................................................................................................ 40 Previous technical reports ............................................................................... 40 Scope of personal inspection .......................................................................... 41 QP responsibilities .......................................................................................... 41 Effective dates ................................................................................................ 42 Information sources and references ................................................................ 42 3 Reliance on Other Experts .............................................................................................. 44 4 Property Description and Location ................................................................................. 45 Property and title in Argentina ....................................................................... 45 Mineral title administration ........................................................................ 45 Mineral title types ....................................................................................... 47 Surface rights .............................................................................................. 47 Environmental regulations .......................................................................... 47 Tenure ............................................................................................................. 49 October 31, 2017 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report Surface rights .................................................................................................. 50 Royalties ......................................................................................................... 51 Environmental aspects .................................................................................... 51 Permits ............................................................................................................ 52 Comment on Section 4 ................................................................................... 52 5 Accessibility, Climate, Local Resources, Infrastructure and Physiography ................... 53 Access ............................................................................................................. 53 Climate ............................................................................................................ 53 Topography, elevation and vegetation ............................................................ 54 Infrastructure .................................................................................................. 54 Sufficiency of surface rights ........................................................................... 55 Comment on Section 5 ................................................................................... 56 6 History ............................................................................................................................ 57 Ownership and exploration history ................................................................. 57 Prior Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserve estimates ............................... 58 7 Geological Setting and Mineralization ........................................................................... 59 Regional geology ............................................................................................ 59 Local geology ................................................................................................. 60 Lindero Deposit .............................................................................................. 61 Lithology .................................................................................................... 61 Alteration .................................................................................................... 65 Structural setting ......................................................................................... 66 Mineralization ............................................................................................. 66 Hypogene mineralogy................................................................................. 67 Vein types ................................................................................................... 68 Relationship between intrusive phases and mineralization ........................ 69 Oxidation and supergene effects ................................................................. 70 Evolution of the system .............................................................................. 71 Arizaro Deposit ............................................................................................... 75 Local geology ............................................................................................. 75 Lithology .................................................................................................... 77 Alteration .................................................................................................... 78 Mineralization ............................................................................................. 79 Comment on Section 7 ................................................................................... 80 8 Deposit Types ................................................................................................................. 81 Mineral deposit type ....................................................................................... 81 October 31, 2017 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report Tectonic setting and age ............................................................................. 82 Host rocks ................................................................................................... 82 Ore and gangue mineralogy and texture ..................................................... 82 Wall rock alteration .................................................................................... 82 Structural setting ......................................................................................... 82 Typical size and dimensions ....................................................................... 82 Weathering effects ...................................................................................... 83 Geochemical and geophysical signature ..................................................... 83 Mineralization controls and exploration guides ......................................... 83 Fluid inclusions .......................................................................................... 83 Comparison with Maricunga belt deposits ..................................................... 83 Comment on Section 8 ................................................................................... 84 9 Exploration ..................................................................................................................... 85 Goldrock campaign (2000 to 2001) ................................................................ 85 Geological mapping .................................................................................... 85 Soil (talus fines) geochemistry ................................................................... 86 Trenching .................................................................................................... 86 Rio Tinto campaign (2002 to 2003) ............................................................... 87 Geological mapping .................................................................................... 87 Geophysics ................................................................................................. 88 Road-cut sampling ...................................................................................... 88 Drilling and core logging ............................................................................ 88 Goldrock campaign (2005 to 2008) ................................................................ 89 Geological mapping .................................................................................... 89 Trenching .................................................................................................... 89 Topographic survey .................................................................................... 90 Goldrock campaign (2010) ............................................................................. 90 Fortuna campaign (2016 to 2017) .................................................................. 92 Geological mapping and relogging ............................................................. 92 Soluble copper investigation ...................................................................... 92 Heterogeneity test ....................................................................................... 93 Geotechnical studies ....................................................................................... 94 Hydrogeological studies ................................................................................. 95 Petrography ..................................................................................................... 95 Exploration potential ...................................................................................... 96 Lindero Deposit .......................................................................................... 96 Arizaro Deposit and other prospects .......................................................... 96 Comment on Section 9 ................................................................................... 98 October 31, 2017 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report 10 Drilling ............................................................................................................................ 99 Introduction .................................................................................................... 99 Rio Tinto campaign (2002) ........................................................................... 100 Goldrock campaign (2005 to 2010) .............................................................. 101 Fortuna campaign (2016) .............................................................................. 101 Geological and geotechnical logging procedures ......................................... 102 Mansfield lithological core logging (2005 to 2010) ................................. 102 Fortuna relogging and drilling (2016) ...................................................... 103 Drill core recovery ........................................................................................ 104 Extent of drilling ........................................................................................... 104 Drill hole collar surveys ............................................................................... 104 Downhole surveys ........................................................................................ 105 Drill sections ................................................................................................. 105 Sample length versus true thickness ............................................................. 111 Summary of drill intercepts .......................................................................... 111 Comment on Section 10 ............................................................................... 114 11 Sample Preparation, Analyses, and Security ................................................................ 115 Sample preparation prior to dispatch of samples .......................................... 115 Core samples ............................................................................................ 115 Trench samples ......................................................................................... 116 Bulk density determination ....................................................................... 116 Dispatch of samples, sample preparation, assaying and analytical procedures ..................................................................................................... 117 Sample dispatch ........................................................................................ 117 Sample preparation and assaying ............................................................. 117 Laboratory accreditation ............................................................................... 119 Sample security and chain of custody .......................................................... 119 Quality control measures .............................................................................. 120 Rio Tinto ................................................................................................... 120 Goldrock ................................................................................................... 120 Fortuna ...................................................................................................... 121 Standard reference materials .................................................................... 121 Blank samples ........................................................................................... 123 Duplicate samples ..................................................................................... 124 Conclusions regarding quality control results .......................................... 130 Comment on Section 11 ............................................................................... 131 October 31, 2017 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report 12 Data Verification .......................................................................................................... 132 Introduction .................................................................................................. 132 Database ........................................................................................................ 132 Collars and downhole surveys ...................................................................... 133 Collars....................................................................................................... 133 Downhole surveys .................................................................................... 133 Lithological logs ........................................................................................... 134 Assays ........................................................................................................... 134 Rio Tinto ................................................................................................... 134 Goldrock ................................................................................................... 134 Fortuna ...................................................................................................... 136 Density measurements .................................................................................. 136 Metallurgical results ..................................................................................... 137 Geotechnical parameters ............................................................................... 137 Comment on Section 12 ............................................................................... 137 13 Mineral Processing and Metallurgical Testing ............................................................. 139 Prior metallurgical testwork ......................................................................... 139 Samples ..................................................................................................... 139 Gold extraction ......................................................................................... 140 Copper/silver extraction ........................................................................... 144 Cyanide consumption ............................................................................... 144 Additional information ............................................................................. 147 Current metallurgical testwork ..................................................................... 147 Samples ..................................................................................................... 148 Sample preparation ................................................................................... 149 Physical testing ......................................................................................... 152 Leach testing ............................................................................................. 154 Gold extraction ......................................................................................... 156 Copper/silver extraction ........................................................................... 158 Cyanide consumption ............................................................................... 158 Weakly acid dissociable (WAD) cyanide determinations ........................ 158 SART laboratory testwork ........................................................................ 159 Carbon adsorption .................................................................................... 159 Heap leach modeling .................................................................................... 161 Conclusions .................................................................................................. 161 Additional work ............................................................................................ 162 Comments on Section 13 .............................................................................. 162 October 31, 2017 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report 14 Mineral Resource Estimates ......................................................................................... 164 Introduction .................................................................................................. 164 Disclosure ..................................................................................................... 164 Known issues that materially affect Mineral Resources ........................... 164 Assumptions, methods and parameters ........................................................ 165 Supplied data, data transformations and data validation .............................. 166 Data transformations ................................................................................ 166 Software .................................................................................................... 166 Data preparation ....................................................................................... 166 Data validation .......................................................................................... 166 Geological interpretation and domaining ..................................................... 167 Probabilistic grade shells .......................................................................... 169 Exploratory data analysis .............................................................................. 170 Compositing of assay intervals ................................................................. 170 Statistical analysis of composites ............................................................. 170 Contact analysis ........................................................................................ 171 Extreme value treatment ........................................................................... 172 Grade correlation ...................................................................................... 175 Unfolding .................................................................................................. 175 Continuity analysis ................................................................................... 175 Variogram modeling ................................................................................. 176 Opinion on the quality of the modeled variograms .................................. 178 Block model .............................................................................................. 178 Grade estimation ........................................................................................... 179 Dynamic anisotropy .................................................................................. 180 Density .......................................................................................................... 181 Block model validation ................................................................................. 182 Global bias ................................................................................................ 182 Local bias .................................................................................................. 182 Mineral Resource classification .................................................................... 185 Geological continuity ............................................................................... 185 Data density and orientation ..................................................................... 185 Data accuracy and precision ..................................................................... 186 Spatial grade continuity ............................................................................ 186 Classification ............................................................................................ 186 Comments regarding classification .......................................................... 187 Mineral Resource reporting .......................................................................... 189 Reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction .......................... 189 Mineral Resource statement ..................................................................... 189 October 31, 2017 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report Mineral Resources by key geologic attributes .......................................... 190 Comparison to previous estimate ............................................................. 193 Comment on Section 14 ............................................................................... 194 15 Mineral Reserve Estimates ........................................................................................... 195 Mineral Reserve methodology ...................................................................... 195 Mineral Resource handover .......................................................................... 196 Key mining parameters ................................................................................. 196 Dilution and mining loss........................................................................... 196 Pit slope parameters .................................................................................. 196 Metallurgical recoveries ........................................................................... 196 LG optimization parameters ..................................................................... 197 Mineral Reserves .......................................................................................... 198 Comparison to previous reserve estimate ................................................. 198 Comments on Section 15 .............................................................................. 198 16 Mining Methods ........................................................................................................... 199 Material types ............................................................................................... 199 Waste material .......................................................................................... 199 Ore material types ..................................................................................... 199 Mining methods ............................................................................................ 199 Pit designs ................................................................................................. 199 Bench height ............................................................................................. 200 Ultimate pit and pit phase design slopes................................................... 200 Haulage considerations ............................................................................. 202 Ultimate pit and pit phasing ...................................................................... 202 Mine waste dump.......................................................................................... 209 Mine production schedule ............................................................................ 211 Equipment selection and productivities ........................................................ 213 Mine personnel ............................................................................................. 214 Comments on Section 16 .............................................................................. 215 17 Recovery Methods ........................................................................................................ 216 Proposed process description ........................................................................ 216 Fundamental design criteria ...................................................................... 217 Flowsheets ................................................................................................ 218 Crushing ................................................................................................... 221 Flake breaker ............................................................................................ 221 Agglomeration .......................................................................................... 221 Stacking .................................................................................................... 222 October 31, 2017 Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Lindero Property Technical Report Heap leaching and solution handling ........................................................ 224 Leach pad .................................................................................................. 224 Solution collection system ........................................................................ 225 Overliner ................................................................................................... 225 Ponds ........................................................................................................ 225 SART plant ............................................................................................... 226 Carbon-in-column ..................................................................................... 227 Acid washing ............................................................................................ 227 Cold cyanide wash .................................................................................... 228 Elution ...................................................................................................... 228 Electrowinning ......................................................................................... 229 Refinery .................................................................................................... 229 Carbon handling ....................................................................................... 229 Cyanide preparation .................................................................................. 230 Reagents ................................................................................................... 230 Utilities ..................................................................................................... 231 Water ........................................................................................................ 231 Water balance ........................................................................................... 232 Requirements for energy, water, and process materials ............................... 236 Other Considerations .................................................................................... 236 Comment on Section 17 ............................................................................... 237 18 Project Infrastructure .................................................................................................... 238 Access roads and site access ......................................................................... 239 Power supply ................................................................................................ 239 Power requirements .................................................................................. 239 Construction and emergency power ......................................................... 240 Water supply ................................................................................................. 240 Water source – wells................................................................................. 241 Raw water and fire water distribution ...................................................... 243 Potable water system ................................................................................ 243 Sewage treatment system.......................................................................... 243 Process area buildings .................................................................................. 243 Administration building ............................................................................ 243 Guard house .............................................................................................. 244 Process shop ............................................................................................. 244 Warehouse ................................................................................................ 244 ADR plant building .................................................................................. 244 SART filter building ................................................................................. 244 October 31, 2017
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