(Kaieteur News) – Jorge Ganoza, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Canadian-based mining company Fortuna Mining Corp., which is operating in Guyana, recently stated that with gold prices rising, West African mining countries are increasingly considering ways to secure a greater share of revenues from the sector.
Ganoza made the comments during a recent discussion on the company’s operations when he participated in Mining Forum Americas 2026. He was asked about possible changes to tax regimes in the countries in which Fortuna operates.
Jorge Ganoza, President and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian-based mining company Fortuna Mining Corp.
While Ganoza did not specifically identify Guyana when discussing potential changes to mining tax regimes, he outlined the company’s projects in West Africa. He added that Côte d’Ivoire is discussing an increase in its royalty regime, including the removal of an eight per cent cap, while similar discussions are taking place in Senegal.
He further explained that discussions between mining companies and governments have changed as gold prices have increased, with governments now more focused on how much revenue they can derive from mining operations as opposed to whether the operations will be approved.
“But the important dynamic in those discussions is, throughout the years, I’ve been many times in a situation when you are trying to convince your counterpart in government that mining is good and you know they should permit the mine and allow the mine,” Ganoza said.
He added that while governments are seeking to increase their take, they also have to consider the competitiveness of their mining sectors.
“In this case, the dynamic of the discussion is completely different. They all want the mine. The question is how much, and that’s sometimes a fair discussion, right? and I think where we are seeing these discussions take place, the host governments are being careful in how they manage their tax burden so they remain competitive,” he said.
Fortuna is one of the newest additions to Guyana’s gold sector. To date, there are over 13 Canadian mining companies developing large-scale mining projects across Guyana.
For five of the companies, the Proven and Probable Reserves and indicated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) amount to 15.7 million ounces of gold. The remaining companies are still in the exploration stage and have not reached the point of announcing resource estimates.
Ganoza’s comments on other nations looking to secure a higher share from their gold resources come as, over the past two decades, Guyana has been receiving either 5 or 8 percent royalties from the large-scale mining companies operating here. When the price of gold goes beyond US$1,000 per ounce, large-scale mining companies’ royalty would rise from 5 percent to 8 percent.
Notably, Fortuna is advancing the Quartzstone gold project, which covers 296 square kilometres of contiguous mining lands in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
Earlier this year, Fortuna entered an earn-in agreement to acquire up to a 70 percent interest in the Quartzstone Gold Project. Fortuna is currently advancing its 2026 work programme on the project, valued at approximately US$5.6 million, including an initial 5,000-metre diamond drilling programme.
Moreover, Ganoza also highlighted Guyana as an area of investment interest, and drilling at its project in Guyana will start this month.
“We’re investing in the Guiana Shield. I don’t like to do proximology, but we’re only 30 kilometers north than from Oko West, and in similar rocks, we’re very excited about. We’re going to start drilling this month of October,” he added.
Source: Kaieteur News
