Lion One Metals hits high gold grades at Tuvatu project in Fiji
At Tuvatu, Lion One has unearthed 0.3m at 1,310g/t gold from 582.8m.
Vancouver-based and ASX-listed Lion One Metals (ASX: LLO) has hit what it believes is high-grade feeder style mineralisation at its Tuvatu gold project near Nadi in Fiji.
The company’s ground is part of a 250km-long gold corridor that previously yielded several gold deposits, the most noted of which was Vatakoula that, from 1937, produced more than 7 million ounces of gold — and which was owned by the former Emperor Mines, which was listed on the ASX between 1972 and 2008.
Lion One has now intercepted two high-grade intervals at 558m and 583.4m downhole.
One interval included 2m grading 35.28 grams per tonne gold starting at 558m, followed by a second interval of 12.7m at 46.41g/t from 571m, including 4.7m at 120.16g/t gold from 579m, and 0.3m at 1,310g/t gold from 582.8m.
Lion One shares, which had closed at $1.88 on Friday, at one point after this announcement soared as high as $6.35 — but then shed some of that gain in subsequent trading.
The hole at Tuvatu is now at a depth of 641.4m and on its way to a targeted 1,000m, which it is expected to reach within the next couple of weeks.
Displays characteristics of a gold feeder system
Lion Ore said it is taking great care to maintain the integrity of this hole to ensure it reaches its target depth.
The company said high-grade mineralisation encountered in this hole “displays characteristics typical of feeder style mineralisation in alkaline gold systems”.
Lion One technical adviser Quinton Hennigh said the company was pleased to see support for the hypothesis that a high-grade feeder underlies Tuvatu.
Textures of gold are suggesting rapid deposition from what was possibly a gold-saturated mineral-forming fluid.
“This is encouraging because it suggests we are now in the right part of the system to find more such mineralisation,” Dr Hennigh added. “It will be quite interesting to see what else is encountered.”
Tuvatu is located on Viti Levu island near the town of Nadi.
The most recent mineral resource estimate, dated 2015, was 1.12Mt of indicated resource grading 8.17g/t gold (for a contained 294,000oz), plus 1.3Mt at inferred 10.60g/t gold (for a contained 445,000oz).
Last week, Lion One reported a private placement worth C$20 million ($20.95m) to two Canadian investment firms – money that will be used to finance further work at Tuvatu.
Lion One’s chief executive officer Walter Berukoff has previously headed three other Canadian mining companies: Miramar Mines, Northern Orion and La Mancha Resources.