Lion One Metals mining second lode system at Tuvatu mine, Fiji
Lion One Metals Ltd. [LIO-TSXV; LOMLF-OTCQX; LLO-ASX] has begun mining on the URW1 lode at its 100%-owned Tuvatu alkaline gold project in Fiji.
Strike driving has reached the URW1 lode and the first underground images of the lode have been received. The initial intersection of the lode revealed one primary vein and numerous stockwork-style veins. Visible gold was observed in multiple locations on the face of the lode and within four different fracture orientations. Three of these fracture orientations are subparallel to the grade control drill axis and would therefore be difficult to identify given their orientation relative to the grade control drilling. A sample line was completed perpendicular to the main vein, and a grab sample was collected from the foot of the face.
Highlights of the initial face sampling on URW1 are as follows: 51.2 g/t gold over 0.56 metres; 117.48 g/t gold over 0.19 metres; 37.99 g/t gold over 0.19 metres; and 58.68 g/t gold (grab sample).
Walter Berukoff, chairman and CEO, commented: “We are excited to have started mining our second lode at the Tuvatu gold mine, especially so soon after we started mining our first lode. Without the diligence and hard work performed by our geology and engineering teams in Fiji we could not have located the lode as successfully and as accurately as we did.
“We are extremely pleased with the amount of coarse-grained gold visible on the face of the lode, which is even more than was anticipated. Following our initial sampling of the face, and due to the presence of visible gold in multiple fracture orientations, we are optimistic that the overall grade of the URW1 lode could end up being even higher than what the grade control drilling has suggested. We continue to learn more about the Tuvatu system as we open the system up underground, and we are beginning to see how well endowed the Tuvatu system truly is. Just like the discovery of the URA1 lode on our initial drive underground, the system continues to provide surprises to the upside as our underground developments progress.”
The Tuvatu alkaline gold project is located on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji. The January 2018 mineral resource for Tuvatu as disclosed in the technical report “Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Tuvatu Gold Project, Republic of Fiji,” dated September 25, 2020, and prepared by Mining Associates Pty. Ltd. of Brisbane, Queensland, comprises 1,007,000 tonnes indicated at 8.50 g/t gold (274,600 ounces Au) and 1,325,000 tonnes inferred at nine g/t gold (384,000 oz Au) at a cut-off grade of three g/t gold.
Lion One’s flagship asset is the fully permitted, high-grade Tuvatu alkaline gold project. Lion One envisions a low-cost, high-grade underground gold mining operation at Tuvatu coupled with exploration upside inside its tenements covering the entire Navilawa caldera, an underexplored yet highly prospective 7-km-diameter alkaline gold system.