It's also gained "breathing room" from its lenders, who had wanted the issue resolved by November 20.

The company gained a provisional injunction in October to keep operating San Jose while it continued to seek an extension - requested in May - to the mine's environmental impact authorisation (EIA) which expired on October 23.

The company maintains it's "fundamentally in compliance" with all material aspects of the EIA and is entitled to an extension.

Under its credit facility amended earlier this month, Fortuna was required to obtain a permanent injunction or equivalent protection by November 20 to allow it to continue to operate San Jose.

The lenders have agreed to waive that requirement until February 18, Fortuna (TSX: FVI) said on Friday.

"It is unclear what FVI had to give up to obtain this concession," Canaccord Genuity analyst Dalton Baretto said.

He added it was unclear how long the temporary injunction allowing San Jose to operate was valid for and noted the loss of liquidity under the company's credit facility would begin in early 2022.

The facility steps down to nil should the situation not be resolved by April 23 and Canaccord believed the lenders would "be more firm on this date".

However given the breathing room created and the significant recent decline in the share price, Canaccord has upgraded Fortuna from sell to hold.

It maintained a C$5.50 share price target.

Fortuna also has mines in Peru, Argentina and Burkina Faso.

Its shares have plunged from above $6.50 earlier this month to last trade at $4.85, capitalising it at $1.4 billion (US$1.1 billion).