UPDATE 1-Fortuna Mining says Burkina Faso will not withdraw existing permits

(Adds share prices, miner statements, background throughout)

By Divya Rajagopal and Vallari Srivastava

Oct 7 (Reuters) – Fortuna Mining said on Monday that the government of Burkina Faso does not plan to withdraw the Canadian company’s existing mining permits in the country.

Junta leader Ibrahim Traoré said on Saturday that Burkina Faso planned to withdraw mining permits from some foreign companies and would seek to produce more of its own gold, without specifying which permits would be canceled.

Shares of gold miners with projects in the West African country slumped sharply in Monday trade at the Toronto Stock Exchange, dragging down the entire index.

Shares of Fortuna Mining were down 9% at 3:25pm ET (19.25 GMT). Orezone Gold Corp, which owns the Bombero gold mine, was also down 9% at the TSX.

Gold miner Endeavour Mining said Traor discussed several topics on Saturday to commemorate two years of his presidency and made a reference that certain mining permits may potentially be revoked.

However, Endeavour said the government remains supportive of the company and it is not aware of any plans to revoke any of its mining permits.

Shares of Endeavour were down 3% at the TSX.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru and Divya Rajagopal in Toronto; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Mark Porter)

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