Production Of 10.2 Million Ounces Of Silver 

VANCOUVER - Fortuna Silver Mines, Inc. reported 2016 production figures from its two underground operating silver mines, the San Jose Mine in Mexico and the Caylloma Mine in Peru. The company produced 7.4 million ounces of silver and 46.6 thousand ounces of gold or 10.2 million Ag Eq ounces.

Jorge A. Ganoza, President and CEO, said, "We leave behind a year of important achievements with the successful expansion of our San Jose Mine to 3,000 tpd and the acquisition of the Lindero gold Project in Salta, Argentina. Lindero adds 1.5 million ounces of gold reserves to our existing inventory and positions Fortuna for its next leg of growth." Mr. Ganoza continued, "In 2017, our expansion plans are going to be underpinned by our solid low-cost production base providing financial flexibility to execute engineering and development plans for Lindero and continue exploring for new compelling precious metal opportunities in the Americas and abroad."

San Jose plans to process 1,050,000 tonnes of ore averaging 230 g/t Ag and 1.67 g/t Au. Capital investment is estimated at $23.2 million. Caylloma plans to process 535,000 tonnes of ore averaging 71 g/t Ag, 2.73% Pb and 3.86% Zn. Capital investment is estimated at $14.1 million. At the Lindero gold Project in Argentina he company continues advancing with the optimization of the 2016 Feasibility Study; including tradeoff metallurgical tests and detailed engineering revisions. Initial results for the various components of the optimization are expected to be released in March 2017. 

Brownfields in Mexico, the exploration program budget for 2017 at the San Jose Mine is $7.0 million, which includes 31,000 meters of diamond drilling and 600 meters of underground development for drilling to define future resources. Exploration drilling is in progress at the Trinidad Central zone and on the sub-parallel Ocotlan vein in the San Jose Mine. Brownfields exploration program budget for 2017 at the Caylloma Mine in Peru is $3.9 million, which includes 22,000 meters of diamond drilling. Drilling will focus on testing extensions of the principal Animas vein both northeast and southwest from current underground operations. Exploration drilling is in progress on extensions of ore-shoots immediately beneath current operations. The Arizaro gold-copper porphyry target lies within the Lindero Project concession block and contains a Mineral Resource as detailed in the 2016 Feasibility Study. We plan to investigate the economic potential of including the Arizaro target into the existing Lindero resource through surface mapping, re-logging of approximately 8,000 meters of core and initial metallurgical tests with a budget of $450,000.