Lion One Metals Limited reported high-grade gold results from underground sampling and announced the expansion of gold mineralization at its 100% owned Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project in Fiji. Sampling along the walls of the URW1a and URW1b mine drives at Tuvatu has returned high-grade gold results, indicating that the gold mineralization associated with both the URW1a and URW1b lodes extends beyond the walls of the current drives. As reported on July 13, 2023, the grades associated with the URW1a and URW1b lodes are higher than anticipated and the results reported here indicate that the high-grade gold mineralization associated with these lodes is also greater in width than that which was estimated from drilling. Highlights of wall sampling, parallel to sub-parallel to strike-drives, on URW1a and URW1b: 18.70 g/t Au over 17.8 m (including 91.15 g/t Au over 1.0m) (URW1b - Right Wall); 32.34 g/t Au over 10 m (including 149.86 and 80.11 g/t Au over 1.0m each) (URW1b - Left Wall); 17.11 g/t Au over 18 m (including 150.77 g/t Au over 1.0m) (URW1a - Right Wall); 20.72 g/t Au over 11 m (including 107.56 g/t Au over 1.0m) (URW1a - Left Wall); 24.76 g/t Au over 7 m (including 67.06 g/t Au over 1.0m) (URW1a - Left Wall). Mining of the URW1 lodes has been ongoing since May 18th, 2023 and is being conducted through the use of
airleg mining. Airleg mining is a very precise method of mining which is ideal for narrow vein mineralization such as at Tuvatu as it enables the extraction of the vein material with minimal dilution. As mining progressed along the URW1a and URW1b lodes, gold mineralization was identified within narrow stockwork-style veining in the walls of both drives following extraction. A systematic program of wall sampling was therefore initiated to determine the extent of gold mineralization along the walls. Samples were collected at approximately 1m intervals along the entire length of both the lefthand and righthand walls of both the URW1a and URW1b mine drives. The samples were collected by chipping material off the face of the wall along a continuous horizontal line irrespective of veining, mineralization, alteration, or lithology. The sampling results are therefore considered representative of the wall material.
The wall sampling results indicate significant gold mineralization is present in the walls of both the URW1a and URW1b mine drives, yet the lateral extent of this mineralization is unknown. An investigation is underway to determine how far mineralization extends beyond the current walls of the drives and how much additional material can be mined from these drives. Information gained from this investigation will then be applied to adapt the mine design for these lodes moving forward. As a general strategy, the early recognition of gold-bearing stockwork-style veining beyond the primary vein is significant as it provides the opportunity for the mining team to take advantage of increased mining volumes early in the life of the mine. The mining method at Tuvatu is being assessed locally and where it can be demonstrated to be beneficial a switch from airleg to mechanized mining will be considered. The effect of mechanized mining as compared to airleg mining is that it has a higher production rate but wider minimum mining widths. It is therefore efficient for wide zones of mineralization but increases dilution in narrow zones. Modes of Mineralization at URW1 lodes The discovery of widespread gold mineralization in the walls of the URW1a and URW1b mine drives has indicated that high-grade gold mineralization extends for several meters on either side of the main URW1 lodes. This has led to an increased understanding of the gold grade distribution in this portion of the Tuvatu deposit. It is well established that high-grade gold mineralization at Tuvatu occurs within the main subvertical
lodes, such as the URW1a and URW1b lodes, which are likely the primary fluid-flow pathways in this part of the system. Results from the wall sampling program confirm the presence of a secondary, but no less important, mode of occurrence of gold mineralization of considerable significance. This second mode of mineralization occurs as a network of stockwork-style veining that forms a halo of metric extent peripheral to the main sub-vertical lodes.
Gold mineralization in the main lodes typically occurs within chalcedonic quartz veins both as native gold resulting from fluid flashing events and as a very fine-grained gold overprint in association with coarse grained pyrite and sphalerite. Gold mineralization within the halo of stockwork-style veining around the main lode occurs as native gold within a network of thin (<1 cm wide) quartz veinlets. The discovery of this second form of gold mineralization represents a potentially significant upside for gold grades and tonnage at the URW1a and URW1b lodes, and possibly for Tuvatu as a whole.