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The boss of a US-listed mining company has warned the industry to remain “disciplined” after the price of gold surged to a record high, urging executives to avoid a repeat of the mistakes made during a similar rally a decade ago.
The comments by Jorge Ganoza, chief executive of Fortuna Mining, which operates in Latin America and west Africa, came as the precious metal reached $3,500 a troy ounce last month, fuelling concern that miners could be tempted to take on too many projects.
Investors have flooded into gold and other safe haven assets, such as the Swiss franc, as US President Donald Trump’s tariff wars and attacks on Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell rattled markets.
But Ganoza, whose company cited an “increasingly challenging business climate” when selling its mine in Burkina Faso last month for about $130mn, said miners needed to be “disciplined and technical” despite the “exciting days” for the industry.
“We, as captains of industry, the people who decide the allocation of capital towards new project development, need to keep very disciplined,” he told the Financial Times. “Investors have the luxury of coming in and coming out but we have to mine every day.”
Shares in Fortuna, which is based in Canada and also listed in Toronto, have soared 44 per cent in New York this year to $6.05. Gold has climbed 29 per cent to $3,382 a troy ounce.
Ganoza said while there was “mounting expectation” on gold’s prospects and opportunities for investment — a view he also subscribed to — these had to be pursued “with the right projects in the right locations”.
It was “common to see projects that should not be developed get developed at high prices”, and then struggle when the market turned, added the executive, who has led Fortuna since it was founded in 2005.
“In previous cycles [of high prices] about a decade ago mining companies were very complacent, thinking that higher prices would take care of everything,” Ganoza said.
Fortuna had decided to exit the Yaramoko mine in Burkina Faso after receiving a “compelling” offer from a local group for the asset, which was due to close early in 2026 as its mineral reserves neared the end, said Ganoza.
Burkina Faso, together with Mali and Niger, is one of the central Sahel states that are now ruled by military juntas who have enacted new mining codes demanding greater shares of mining revenues.
Operations in the region have been disrupted by a showdown between the governments and some mining companies, particularly Canada’s Barrick Gold, which is locked in a dispute with the Malian government.
Fortuna, which took over Yaramoko in 2021 through a nearly $900mn acquisition of gold miner Roxgold, will now focus on its assets in Senegal, Ivory Coast and Latin America, Ganoza said.
The Peruvian executive said that while Burkina Faso’s government had engaged with the company and ensured security for its operations, Fortuna had “found tactically better opportunities in other regions”.
“It is important that the Burkinabe government does its best efforts in providing stability to investment, particularly in mining which is a long-term investment.”