Lion One Reports Engineering and Development Progress North Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 8, 2022) - Lion One Metals Limited (TSXV: LIO) (OTCQX: LOMLF) (ASX: LLO) ("Lion One" or the "Company") is pleased to provide the following progress report for the engineering and development of the Company's fully permitted high grade Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project located on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji.
Highlights
- Production permits are in place for underground gold mining operations
- Engineering and procurement of gold recovery plant is underway
- Development of second underground access portal is underway
- Mobile crushing unit has been ordered, built, and is now being shipped to mine site
- Majority of required mining equipment has been shipped and delivered to mine site
- Contracts for water, power, tailings, explosives, and communications secured or in progress
- ERP implementation underway for accounting, supply chain, cost control, and inventory
Mill Design & Construction
Lion One has designed a scalable milling facility with installation anticipated by Q3 2023, for initial gold production by the end of Q4 2023. The mill has been designed with a scalable capacity to be expandable from the initial planned production rate of 300 tonnes per day (tpd) for approximately 24,000 ounces of gold per year, ramping up to potentially 1,200 tpd.
For more information read the Metallurgical Overview and Process Description below.
Underground Development & Mining
Lion One has commenced development of the portal for underground access #2 and expects to commence underground development at a projected rate of 2m per day during the current quarterly period.
Several recent news releases have highlighted a number of high-grade intercepts (See Recent Infill Drilling Results below) that occur in very close proximity to planned underground infrastructure, indicating that a number of high-grade lodes are immediately accessible and can be included in the initial mine plan. Lion One anticipates to be driving through these lodes as early as Q2 2022.
Dual-Track Advancement Strategy
Concomitant with the mine development plan being undertaken, Lion One continues to pursue aggressive exploration drilling of newly defined feeder targets in proximity to the Tuvatu resource, including the prolific 500 Zone, as well as regional targets within the ~6 km Navilawa caldera.
Lion One has an exceptional team to lead this effort led by Wally Berukoff, CEO, Patrick Hickey, COO and Sergio Cattalani, SVP Exploration.
Lion One's Chief Operating Officer Patrick Hickey commented, "Lion One is committed to building a mine at Tuvatu and we are progressing with design of the processing facilities and development of Tuvatu decline #2, with the objective of initiating production by late 2023. At its current resource grade of over 8 g/t Au, Tuvatu has the potential to become one of highest grade gold mines in the world, while ongoing exploration demonstrates significant potential for identifying a large alkaline gold system within the Navilawa Caldera".
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113121