LION ONE REPORTS FIRST RESULTS OF 2019 DRILLING FROM TUVATU GOLD PROJECT IN FIJI
Lion One Metals Ltd. has released results from the first six diamond drill holes from its 2019 exploration program at its 100-per-cent-owned and fully permitted high-grade Tuvatu gold project in Fiji. Notable results include:
- TUDDH480: 3.21 metres of 12.98 grams per tonne (g/t) gold:
- Including 0.38 metre of 91.00 g/t gold;
- 0.95 metre of 15.79 g/t gold;
- Including 0.26 metre of 50.20 g/t gold;
- TUDDH481: 0.85 metre of 24.34 g/t gold:
- Including 0.35 metre of 57.50 g/t gold;
- TUDDH484: 19.15 metres of 8.07 g/t gold:
- Including 8.55 metres of 10.51 g/t gold;
- 5.25 metres of 12.22 g/t gold.
Please refer to the attached table for a summary of the most significant results.
Drilling has focused on areas in the northern parts of the Tuvatu resource area, targeting extensions of the H and T lodes. These lodes occur along a northwest-trending corridor of intense potassium alteration in which spongey-textured feldspar and coarse biotite have replaced the host monzonite. The porous nature of this alteration allowed later gold-rich fluids to permeate this corridor, producing what has only recently been recognized as a new, potentially important style of mineralization at Tuvatu. The long interval of continuous gold mineralization seen in hole TUDDH484, 19.15 metres of 8.07 g/t gold, is one of the longest intervals of gold mineralization encountered to date at Tuvatu. These promising results indicate more exploration is needed to further test for extensions of this style of mineralization beyond the resource area.
Additional lodes, including notable low-angle SKL lodes, were also encountered in drilling. An intercept across lode SKL3 in hole TUDDH480 encountered 3.21 metres of 12.98 g/t gold, including 0.38 metre of 91.00 g/t gold. SKL lodes appear to serve as linking structures that provided conduits for gold-rich fluids to access high-angle structures during the time of gold deposition. Their importance is increasingly being recognized in the Tuvatu lode system.
Further results from the bottom half of TUDDH484 are awaited. Diamond drilling is continuing.
Lion One recently purchased the drilling assets of Fijian-based company Geodrill, which has provided the company with two diamond drills, one for surface drilling and one for underground. Operating these drills in-house has enabled Lion One to significantly reduce drilling cost, a huge benefit to the company’s ability to implement cost-effective exploration. Lion One plans to continue drilling through 2019, starting initially with near-resource drilling, then testing new targets generated by the company’s current greenfield exploration campaign later in 2019 and 2020.
Navilawa caldera exploration
The company has a commenced its 2019 Navilawa caldera exploration program (please refer to the company’s news release dated April 8, 2019 for further details). Lion One controls the entire Navilawa caldera, a seven-kilometre diameter alkaline gold system of which the company’s Tuvatu high-grade vein deposit is a small part. To better understand the extent and distribution of gold mineralization within the caldera, initial exploration work includes specialized stream sediment sampling using a technique called bulk leach extractable gold (BLEG) over the entire concession area. Navilawa is an ideal place for BLEG sampling, given that gold predominantly occurs as fine grains within small fractures that, when weathered, should yield appreciable fine gold that generates a strong analytic response.
Lion One’s Fijian crew was recently fully trained in BLEG sample collection and field sampling has commenced in the southern half of the caldera. Approximately 80 total sample sites have been planned, covering most of Lion One’s concessions. Sampling is expected to take a couple months and initial results from the southern half of the caldera are expected back in July, at which point the company will present data to the market.
“Our first 2019 drilling has returned strong results,” commented Dr. Quinton Hennigh, technical adviser to Lion One. “The northwest-trending H-T corridor appears to have potential to host a significant new style of gold mineralization at Tuvatu. Further drilling is needed to chase this intriguing mineralization further along strike. In addition to drilling, our BLEG program is well under way. We eagerly await first results from the southern half of the Navilawa caldera. This is an important first step in expanding our understanding of the exploration potential at Tuvatu.”
Qualified person
Stephen Mann, professional geoscientist, is the qualified person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the technical information in this release. Mr. Mann is a certified professional geologist and member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, with over 30 years of experience in gold and uranium exploration throughout Australasia. Mr. Mann is not independent as he is managing director of Lion One and a shareholder of the company. Mr. Mann is satisfied that the results are verified based on an inspection of the core, a review of the sampling procedures, the credentials of the professionals completing the work, and is familiar with the style and continuity of mineralization.
Quality assurance and control
The samples are transported by courier in security-sealed bags to the facilities of ALS Chemex in Townsville, Australia, for sample preparation and gold analysis by fire assay and multielement inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Apart from the routine ALS standards and duplicates, Lion One includes regular standards, blanks and duplicates with every batch of samples submitted. All standards are internationally certified. The 2019 exploration program has been performed under the supervision of Mr. Mann, who has prepared, reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.
MOST SIGNIFICANT DIAMOND DRILL RESULTS: TUDDH479 TO TUDDH484
Drill hole From To Interval True width Au Zone
(m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t)
TUDDH479 8 10.5 2.5 1.40 4.23 T1
Including 10 10.5 0.5 11.35 T1
TUDDH480 49.43 52.64 3.21 3.00 12.98 SKL3
Including 51.55 51.93 0.38 91.00 SKL3
55.75 56.7 0.95 0.50 15.79 GRF1
Including 55.75 56.01 0.26 50.20 GRF1
65.7 66.65 0.95 0.50 3.44 GRF2
79.93 81.05 1.12 1.05 3.88 SKL6
100.60 101.76 1.16 1.08 6.67 SKL8
Including 100.60 100.80 0.2 33.50 SKL8
TUDDH481 30.00 45.05 15.05 4.10 2.94 H1
Including 30.00 30.85 0.85 24.34 H1
Including 30.00 30.35 0.35 57.50 H1
Including 35.50 37.58 2.08 6.08 H1
Including 36.53 36.85 0.32 31.20 H1
Including 44.20 45.05 0.85 7.63 H1
50.60 58.00 7.4 2.00 3.29 W1H/W
Including 50.60 51.00 0.4 26.50 W1H/W
70.40 72.35 1.95 0.50 4.26 H2
Including 72.05 72.35 0.3 18.65 H2
TUDDH482 9.00 15.80 6.8 3.40 2.52 H1
Including 11.50 12.65 1.15 5.13 H1
25.00 29.95 4.95 2.50 1.64 H2
Including 25.00 25.60 0.6 5.97 H2
TUDDH483 72.90 77.70 4.8 2.30 2.11 H2
Including 75.70 77.70 2 3.75 H2
Including 77.35 77.70 0.35 11.85 H2
TUDDH484 53.70 54.75 1.05 0.40 37.48 GFR2
58.55 77.70 19.15 4.80 8.07 T1
Including 58.55 67.10 8.55 10.51 T1
Including 72.45 77.70 5.25 12.22 T1
83.70 88.17 4.47 1.60 6.37 West HW
About Lion One Metals Ltd.
Lion One’s flagship asset is Tuvatu, its 100-per-cent-owned and fully permitted underground 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 in the adjoining Navilawa caldera, an underexplored, yet highly prospective, seven-kilometre-diameter alkaline gold system. Lion One’s chief executive officer, Walter Berukoff, leads an experienced team of explorers and mine builders and has owned or operated over 20 mines in seven countries. As the founder and former CEO of Miramar Mines, Northern Orion and La Mancha Resources, Mr. Berukoff is credited with building over $3-billion of value for shareholders.
