Lion One channel samples 13.27 g/t gold over 4 metres at Tuvatu, Fiji
Lion One Metals Ltd. [LIO-TSXV; LOMLF-OTCQX; LLO-ASX] reported a new regional high-grade gold discovery, the Batiri Creek vein, located in the Navilawa Caldera 2 km northeast of the 100%-owned, fully permitted Tuvatu alkaline gold project in Fiji.
The Batiri Vein discovery is credited to the Lion One Fiji exploration team’s regional benching and surface sampling program targeting new gold bearing systems in underexplored regions peripheral to Tuvatu in the surrounding Navilawa Caldera.
The new structure is characterized by an intense zone of veining on a lithological contact between monzonite and andesite, with two significant north-south and northeast-southwest oriented structural intersections. The lithological contact and structural intersections observed in the Batiri vein are comparable to the lithological contact and structural intersections observed from deep extensional drilling in the 500 zone below the Tuvatu resource where Lion One recently reported the longest and highest-grade intercepts yet recovered at Tuvatu, including 20.86 g/t gold over 75.9 metres from TUG 141 and 12.22 g/t gold over 54.9 metres, including 20.1 metres with 23.03 g/t gold from TUDDH 601.
Highlight intercepts from surface benching/channel sampling program include:
Surface channel: Batiri vein (CH3047-CH3048) returned 13.27g/t gold over 4 metres at surface, including 36.10 g/t gold over one metre; 17.91 g/t gold over 0.8 metres.
Other results from the Batiri vein include Channel CH2765 with 2.63 g/t gold over one metre; Channel CH2834 with 3.32 g/t gold over 0.3 metre; Channel CH2789 with 3.54 g/t gold over 0.3 metre; Channel CH2946 with 3.42 g/t gold over 0.4 metres; Channel CH3073 with 3.32 g/t gold over one metre.
Lion One is planning a regional drill program for the Batiri vein target. The company now has eight drill rigs, with the pending delivery of the latest two rigs expected around mid-September. The company currently has two drilling programs under way, including zone 5 infill drilling on the Tuvatu resource, and deep extensional drilling in zone 500 below the Tuvatu resource. The company has now drilled approximately 6,100 metres, about 75% of the planned infill drilling on zone 5 and expects to announce the results from previously unreleased holes in the near future.
Lion One technical advisor Quinton Hennigh stated, “Tuvatu and the wider Navilawa Caldera are part of a classic alkaline gold system. As we know, from geologically comparable world class systems, such as Porgera in PNG or Cripple Creek in Colorado, these kinds of deposits are not isolated and there is potential for multiple zones of mineralization within the gold camp. The new discovery on the Batiri Vein presents the potential for such a new discovery.”
Lion One CEO Walter Berukoff further stated, “The new discovery at surface on the Batiri Vein is very encouraging and I congratulate the regional exploration team for their persistence. While the Tuvatu Gold Project is the core of our development, any new discoveries in the immediate vicinity potentially play a part in the development of a high-grade gold mine. We look forward to following this up with drilling in the near future.”
Lion One’s flagship asset is the fully permitted high grade Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project, located on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji. Lion One envisions a low-cost high-grade underground gold mining operation at Tuvatu coupled with exciting exploration upside inside its tenements covering the entire Navilawa Caldera, an underexplored yet highly prospective 7km diameter alkaline gold system.