Great news..Mechanized Mining begins..more bonanza
ORIGINAL: Lion One Starts Mechanized Production at Tuvatu, Drills 1.2 M of 393.01 g/t Gold
2024-06-05 09:16 ET - News Release
North Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 5, 2024) - Lion One Metals Limited (TSXV: LIO) (OTCQX: LOMLF) (ASX: LLO) ("Lion One" or the "Company") is pleased to report the start of mechanized production at Tuvatu and reports significant new high-grade gold results from Zone 5 infill and grade control drilling at its 100% owned Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project in Fiji.
Mechanized production mining has commenced at Tuvatu. The first remote bogging at Tuvatu occurred on May 16th, and the first long hole stope blast occurred on May 18th. Both are also firsts for the country of Fiji. This is a major milestone for the company as it represents the transition from predominantly development mining to predominantly production mining. The processing plant can now also sustainably process over 400 TPD, which is above the plant's name plate capacity of 300 TPD. The increased throughput is possible due to the successful implementation of operational improvements and debottlenecking initiatives completed by the mill team.
Assay results are also presented here for infill and grade control drilling in the Zone 5 area of Tuvatu. Drill results include multiple bonanza grade gold assays such as 1568.55 g/t, 215.86 g/t, 143.95 g/t, and 134.68 g/t (see Table 1 below). These results are all located proximal to underground development in the near-surface portion of the mine. Drilling was focused on two locations; to the north and south of the Cabex fault, which is a carbonate healed, deposit scale structure. The primary targets for these drillholes were the downdip and southern extensions of the UR2 and URW3 lodes. Previous drill results from the Zone 5 area are available in the December 13, 2023, November 2, 2023, and August 10, 2023 news releases.
Highlights:
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First mechanized production mining at Tuvatu
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First ever remote bogging at Tuvatu on May 16th
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First ever long hole firing at Tuvatu on May 18th
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Mill operations increased from 300 TPD to 400 TPD
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Top new drill intersects:
393.01 g/t Au over 1.2 m (including 1568.55 g/t Au over 0.3 m)
215.86 g/t Au over 0.6 m
49.85 g/t Au over 1.2 m (including 63.35 g/t Au over 0.3 m)
14.98 g/t Au over 3.9 m (including 143.95 g/t Au over 0.3 m)
26.59 g/t Au over 1.8 m (including 90.85 g/t Au over 0.3 m)
*All drill intersects are downhole lengths, 3.0 g/t cutoff. See Table 1 for additional data
Figure 1. Location of Zone 5 drilling reported in this news release. Left image: Plan view of Tuvatu showing Zone 5 drillholes in relation to the mineralized lodes at Tuvatu, shown in grey. The approximate location of the Cabex fault at the 1120 level is shown in light blue. Zone 5 drilling is divided into North of Cabex and South of Cabex programs. Yellow dashed square represents the area shown in the right image. Right image: Oblique view of Zone 5 drilling looking northeast. The Cabex Fault is modelled in pale blue, striking ESE and dipping SSW.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Table 1. Highlights of grade control and infill drill results in the Zone 5 area. Composites are calculated using a 3 g/t Au cutoff with maximum internal dilution intervals of 1 m at <3 g/t Au. For full results see Table 3 in the appendix.
| Hole ID | | From (m) | To (m) | Width (m) | Au (g/t) |
| TGC-0163 | | 24.9 | 26.1 | 1.2 | 393.01 |
| | including | 25.8 | 26.1 | 0.3 | 1568.55 |
| TUDDH-709 | | 252.2 | 252.8 | 0.6 | 215.86 |
| TGC-0173 | | 98.7 | 99.9 | 1.2 | 49.85 |
| TGC-0171 | | 103.2 | 107.1 | 3.9 | 14.98 |
| | including | 105.3 | 106.5 | 1.2 | 42.42 |
| | which includes | 106.2 | 106.5 | 0.3 | 143.95 |
| TGC-0179 | | 101.1 | 102.9 | 1.8 | 26.59 |
| | including | 102.6 | 102.9 | 0.3 | 90.85 |
| TUDDH-718 | | 249.9 | 254.4 | 4.5 | 9.79 |
| | including | 251.4 | 252.6 | 1.2 | 20.63 |
| TGC-0181 | | 60.0 | 60.9 | 0.9 | 47.11 |
| | including | 60.6 | 60.9 | 0.3 | 134.68 |
| TGC-0149 | | 19.2 | 22.2 | 3.0 | 11.06 |
| | including | 21.3 | 22.2 | 0.9 | 29.92 |
| | which includes | 21.9 | 22.2 | 0.3 | 73.22 |
| TGC-0164 | | 100.5 | 102.9 | 2.4 | 11.95 |
| | including | 101.7 | 102.6 | 0.9 | 20.42 |
| TUDDH-718 | | 267.9 | 270.0 | 2.1 | 12.73 |
| | including | 267.9 | 268.5 | 0.6 | 31.96 |
| TGC-0161 | | 94.2 | 96.0 | 1.8 | 14.53 |
| TGC-0166 | | 103.7 | 106.4 | 2.7 | 9.64 |
| | including | 104.0 | 104.6 | 0.6 | 33.10 |
| TUDDH-714 | | 241.7 | 243.8 | 2.1 | 12.02 |
| | including | 243.2 | 243.8 | 0.6 | 24.02 |
| *All drill intersects are downhole lengths |
Zone 5 Drilling
The Zone 5 area of Tuvatu is located along the main decline and includes the principal north-south oriented lodes (UR1 to UR3), the principal northeast-southwest oriented lodes (UR4 to UR8), and several of the western lodes (URW2, URW2A, URW3). These lodes are steeply dipping structures that converge at approximately 500 m depth to form the 500 Zone, which is the highest-grade part of the deposit and is interpreted to be the feeder zone at Tuvatu. The system remains open at depth with the deepest high-grade intersects occurring below 1000 m depth.
The drilling reported in this news release was focused on the near-surface portions of the UR2 and URW3 lodes. These areas are scheduled to be mined throughout the next 12 months. Drilling was separated into two focus areas; to the north of the Cabex Fault, and to the south of the Cabex Fault. The Cabex Fault is a post-mineralization fault that strikes approximately ESE and dips approximately 65° to the SSW. It is interpreted to be a late caldera collapse structure that is healed with carbonate.
The purpose of the Zone 5 infill and grade control drill program is to enhance the mine model and inform stope design in advance of mining. Drilling to the north of the Cabex primarily targeted the down dip extension of the UR2 lode below the 1120 level. Drilling to the south of the Cabex targeted both the down dip extensions of the UR2 and URW3 lodes below the 1100 level, as well as the southern extension of the lodes above and below the 1120 level. Highlights of the Zone 5 drill program are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3.
Figure 2. Zone 5 north of Cabex drilling with high-grade intersects highlighted, 3.0 g/t gold cutoff. View is to the NNW. The primary target area is the down-dip extension of the UR2 lode below the 1120 level.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Figure 3. Zone 5 south of Cabex drilling with high-grade intersects highlighted, 3.0 g/t gold cutoff. View is to the NNE. The primary target areas are the southern extension of the UR2 and URW3 lodes above and below the 1120 level, and the down-dip extension of the UR2 and URW3 lodes below the 1100 level.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Operations Update
Mechanized production mining is underway at Tuvatu. The two remote-capable loaders on site are now fully commissioned and in operation. The first ever remote bogging activity at Tuvatu occurred on May 16th at the 1120 level south, on the UR2 lode in Zone 5. Remote loaders are necessary to extract material from open stopes after blasting. The two long hole drills on site are also fully commissioned and in operation. The first ever long hole production blast at Tuvatu occurred on May 18th, blasting level to level via long holes from the 1120 level north to the 1130 level north, also on the UR2 lode in Zone 5. Both the first remote bogging activity and the first long hole production blast at Tuvatu are major milestones for the company as they represent the start of mechanized production mining. They are also both firsts for the country of Fiji as this style of mining has not taken place in Fiji until now.
Figure 4. Location of the first long hole production blasting and remote bogging activities at Tuvatu. Left image: Plan view of Tuvatu showing the location of long hole blasting and remote bogging activities in relation to the underground development (red) and the mineralized lodes (grey) at Tuvatu. Yellow dashed square represents the area shown in the right image. Right image: Oblique view looking northeast.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/211748_19a03de954442a42_004full.jpg
Mill operations are also advancing successfully. Operational improvements and debottlenecking projects completed by the mill operations team have successfully increased throughput at the mill. These bottlenecking projects include upgrading the process water recycle system, upgrading the thickener pumps and piping, and reducing the tailings filter press cycle times. As a result of these upgrades the processing plant can now achieve a sustained throughput of over 400 TPD, with peak daily throughput of over 450 TPD. The name plate capacity of the processing plant during the ongoing pilot plant stage of operations is 300 TPD. These upgrades therefore represent a substantial improvement in the processing capacity available at Tuvatu.
Competent Persons Statement