Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. has returned high-grade assay results from a recent eight-hole HQ diamond drilling program at the fully permitted Imwelo Gold Project in Tanzania, highlighted by hole IMWDR029 intersecting 28.71 g/t gold over 2.75 metres from 21.00 metres downhole.

The 225-metre program spanned approximately 240 metres of strike at Area C, which is designated as the company's planned initial open-pit mining area at the project. Four of the eight holes intersected voids created by historical artisanal mining where the shallow mineralized zone had already been removed. Hole IMWDR028 returned 12.20 g/t gold over 4.50 metres from 32.00 metres, while individual quartz-vein samples within the intercepts reached up to 142.90 g/t gold in hole IMWDR029 and 124.83 g/t gold in hole IMWDR028.

Whole-core samples from the drillholes have been submitted to Nesch Mintech Tanzania Limited for a comprehensive metallurgical testwork program. The work will evaluate the character of the weathered, clay-rich near-surface mineralization to establish baseline recovery, test washing and desliming, and determine whether attrition scrubbing improves gold liberation.

Area C is advancing toward construction readiness following the commencement of Phase 1 earthworks, which include access-road improvements, preparation of the plant-site footprint, and site camp construction. Development activities at Imwelo are supported by an up to $5 million convertible debenture financing and an agreed gold loan facility of up to 6,000 ounces of gold with Monetary Metals, which is pending Tanzanian regulatory approvals.

“These results reinforce the high grade, near surface character of Area C, and the metallurgical program now underway addresses a key input to our flowsheet design. Confirming how the clay rich surface mineralized material behaves, alongside the strong recoveries already established for our sulphide and transitional mineralized material, supports sound plant design decisions and keeps our focus on disciplined capital and execution on the path to first gold.”

— Marc Cernovitch, President & CEO

Upon completing the testwork program, Lake Victoria Gold will select the preferred front-end treatment route for Area C. The results will be integrated directly into development planning to inform the final process flowsheet, equipment selection, treatment-rate assumptions, plant configuration, detailed pit design, and mine scheduling.

Read the full announcement: Lake Victoria Gold Intersects 28.71 g/t Au over 2.75 m and 12.20 g/t Au over 4.50 m in Shallow Area C Drilling at Imwelo