Fortuna Silver Mines (TSX:FVI) has completed its acquisition of Chesser Resources Limited, according to official statements. Under the terms of the deal, Fortuna acquired all of Chesser’s fully paid ordinary shares, exchanging 0.0248 of one Fortuna common share for each share of Chesser. At the close of the transaction, Fortuna issued 15,545,368 shares in return for Chesser’s shares. These newly issued shares account for approximately 5.1% of Fortuna’s total issued and outstanding shares on an undiluted basis.

Jorge A. Ganoza, President and CEO of Fortuna, commented in a press release: “With the acquisition of Chesser, Fortuna continues to strengthen its presence in West Africa. Senegal is a mining friendly and highly prospective jurisdiction, and we are excited about the growth potential that Chesser’s Diamba Sud Gold Project provides. We look forward to integrating Diamba Sud into our global portfolio, focusing on exploration to unlock value, and partnering with the local communities and stakeholders as we continue to advance the project.”

The acquisition was conducted via a statutory scheme of arrangement, compliant with Part 5.1 of the Australian Corporations Act 2001. As a result of the transaction, Chesser Resources is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fortuna Silver Mines, and its shares are expected to be delisted from the ASX within one to two business days. The purchase expands Fortuna’s operations into West Africa, adding the Diamba Sud Gold Project in Senegal to its portfolio. Chesser had held approximately 872 square kilometers of prospecting ground in Senegal, which is close in proximity and similar in geological features to other significant gold mines in the region. The Diamba Sud project itself contains four open-pittable high-grade gold deposits, as well as several untested anomalies. Fortuna plans to focus initially on exploration to expand the mineral resources at Diamba Sud, before moving the project to the development stage.