Lion One Starts Mechanized Production at Tuvatu, Drills 1.2 M of 393.01 g/t Gold

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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:

  • First mechanized production mining at Tuvatu

  • First ever remote bogging at Tuvatu on May 16th

  • First ever long hole firing at Tuvatu on May 18th

  • Mill operations increased from 300 TPD to 400 TPD

  • 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)

  • 36 new drill holes reported (30 underground, 6 surface)

  • 4930.7 m of new drilling reported

*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.