Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TSXV) reported that it has received the key permit allowing it to construct its high-grade San Jose silver project. The “Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales” (Mexican Environmental Agency) has approved the silver mining company’s application for a change of land use from agricultural to industrial for Fortuna Silver’s the San Jose project - located in the southern State of Oaxaca, Mexico. This is the final permit necessary to begin construction activities and complements the Environment Impact Study, which was approved in October of 2009.

The silver miner went on to say that that “the initiation of construction activities is now within Fortuna’s sole discretion” and is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2010. Furthermore, Fortuna Silver announced that a pre-feasibility study encompassing all pre-construction engineering projects for the San Jose mine, processing plant and supporting infrastructure is set to be completed by January of 2010.

In November of 2009, the company stated that it planned to have all the engineering and permits required to begin construction at San Jose by the end of 2009, and it has successfully met this deadline - an uncommon occurrence in a challenging industry. The company also reported that it has been conducting project staffing for the construction phase and has begun selective searches for long lead equipment.

Fortuna Silver has steadily emerged as a growing, profitable silver miner in an industry littered with failed attempts to achieve commercial success mining precious metals. CEO Jorge Ganoza and his team continue to deliver their goal of providing silver price leverage to investors - in a way that focuses on generating positive cash flow. With San Jose moving forward to production, Fortuna will now be a multi-project operator, vaulting the company onto the watch lists of institutional shareholders. Fortuna has begun to garner increasing support from institutional investors as the company continues to separate itself from its peers - and this fact is evident in the increase in the average daily volume of the company’s shares.

Fortuna Silver is a silver and base metal producer focused on mining opportunities in Latin America. The company’s primary assets are the Caylloma Silver Mine in southern Peru and the San Jose Silver-Gold Project in Mexico. In morning trading shares of FVI.TSXV were unchanged at C$2.05, while the gold price was up $8.86 to $1,124.31 per ounce and the silver price was up $0.28 to $17.37 per ounce.