Lake Victoria Gold Accelerates Development of the Imwelo Gold Project in Tanzania

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 3, Lake Victoria Gold provided an update on early-stage progress at the Imwelo Gold Project in Tanzania: the first round of localized repairs has been completed on the 14-kilometer access road from Katoro to the Imwelo project site, with compaction work on the repaired sections still ongoing; the project construction camp is largely complete, while clearing and earthworks are advancing in parallel across areas designated for the open pit, tailings storage facility, waste rock dump, and water storage infrastructure. The project launched its Phase 1 earthworks on July 28, and this update indicates that the road, camp, and main production facility site preparation have entered the substantive construction stage.

Following a full route condition survey, road works have prioritized the most severely damaged sections in order to improve project transport conditions ahead of the rainy season, which typically begins in late October to November. The works use laterite material sourced from within the mining license area. At this stage, compaction equipment and water trucks continue compaction operations, while other earthmoving machinery has been progressively relocated to the mine site work areas. The works are being carried out by a Tanzanian local contractor, supervised by City Engineering Company Ltd. under the EPCM system, and coordinated with the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency.

On-site works have extended from road construction to the preparation of mining and processing facility platforms. Area C is undergoing bush clearing and surface stripping, with subsequent work areas to shift toward the process plant; topsoil stripping is underway at the open pit, tailings storage facility, waste rock dump, and water storage facility sites, with some of the stripped topsoil being stockpiled between the production area and the future camp area. Stripping and leveling of the run-of-mine (ROM) pad have commenced, with excavated material being used to construct the western embankment within the mining license boundary.

Under the current construction sequence, ROM pad works will be followed by leveling and excavation of the process plant platform to prepare the site for subsequent civil works, with the tailings storage facility site then entering its preparation phase. When Phase 1 earthworks commenced in July, the scope of work already included access road repairs, process plant site clearing, topsoil stripping and storage, platform compaction, embankment construction, and utility trenching. Project EPCM work is led by Tanzanian firm City Engineering Company Ltd., with technical support from Sutton Consulting International.

Electrical installation, drainage, sanitation facilities, and the generator house at the construction camp have been completed, the water supply system has passed pressure testing, and previously deployed water storage, power generation, and piping systems have been installed. Lake Victoria Gold has adopted a "build once" approach, whereby the camp will transition directly into the mine's permanent operational camp after the construction phase.

Lake Victoria Gold also clarified that the previously completed JORC-compliant preliminary economic assessment, pre-feasibility study, and updated pre-feasibility study for Imwelo do not constitute a feasibility study under the current NI 43-101 standards, and the company has not yet completed a feasibility study capable of demonstrating the project's economic and technical viability through mineral reserves.