Lake Victoria Gold Intersects 28.71 g/t Gold at Imwelo, Tanzania

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Lake Victoria Gold has announced the latest drilling results from Area C at the Imwelo Gold Project in Tanzania. Drill hole IMWDR029 returned 2.75 meters at 28.71 g/t gold from 21 meters depth, including 1.30 meters at 59.77 g/t gold, with a 0.50-meter quartz vein sample grading 142.90 g/t gold; drill hole IMWDR028 returned 4.50 meters at 12.20 g/t gold from 32 meters depth, including 1.90 meters at 27.94 g/t gold, with a 0.40-meter quartz vein sample grading 124.83 g/t gold. Both zones of significant mineralization are located in the shallow weathered zone of Area C.

A total of eight HQ diamond drill holes were completed in this program, totaling 225 meters, covering approximately 240 meters of strike length in Area C. In addition to the two holes mentioned above, IMWDR031 intersected 2.50 meters at 0.96 g/t gold from 21.9 meters depth; IMWDR024 returned 1 meter at 0.70 g/t gold and 0.35 meters at 0.38 g/t gold. Four drill holes—IMWDR025, IMWDR026, IMWDR027, and IMWDR030—intersected voids from historical artisanal mining, where some shallow mineralized material had previously been extracted. The company stated that data from this drilling program will be used for detailed pit design, grade control, and production planning at Area C.

Area C has been identified as the first open-pit mining area planned at Imwelo. Previous geotechnical work indicates that the near-surface weathered zone in this area extends locally to approximately 40–60 meters depth, with material dominated by intensely weathered saprolite and gold-bearing quartz veins. Lake Victoria Gold has sent full-core samples from all eight drill holes to Nesch Mintech Tanzania Limited for metallurgical testing, evaluating three processing routes—run-of-mine ore, washing and desliming, and scrubbing followed by desliming—along with gravity separation, cyanide leaching, particle size analysis, pulp rheology, and settling tests.

Another round of metallurgical testing completed by the company in March this year focused on transitional and fresh sulfide ore, achieving gold recoveries of up to approximately 96%–97% using gravity concentration and cyanide leaching. The current testing program focuses on the shallow, clay-rich weathered ore in Area C, and the results will be used to determine whether scrubbing, screening, and desliming equipment is required at the front end, as well as to determine processing capacity, equipment selection, and the final process flowsheet.

The Imwelo project holds mining license ML538/2015 in Tanzania. The company has disclosed historical resources of 291,600 ounces of gold, comprising 42,000 ounces of Measured Resources at 3.15 g/t gold, 95,700 ounces of Indicated Resources at 1.95 g/t gold, and 153,900 ounces of Inferred Resources at approximately 1.56 g/t gold. The resource estimate was prepared in accordance with the JORC Code, and the company does not currently treat it as a current mineral resource under NI 43-101 standards.

The project has entered the site development phase. On July 28, Lake Victoria Gold commenced Phase 1 earthworks at Imwelo, including upgrades to the existing access road and site preparation for the processing plant, with the project camp nearing completion during the same period; the works are being executed by an EPCM team led by City Engineering Company Ltd. The company has also agreed to terms with Monetary Metals for a gold loan of up to 6,000 ounces of gold, valued at approximately US$25 million, with the financing intended for the Imwelo project and, as of June 25, still progressing through Tanzanian regulatory approvals, registrations, and notification procedures.

In the next phase, Lake Victoria Gold plans to determine the front-end processing route for Area C based on the weathered ore metallurgical test results, continue grade control drilling, and complete pit design, production planning, and process plant flowsheet design.