Lake Victoria Gold Maiden Resource 580,000 oz at Tembo, Tanzania

Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. (TSXV:LVG) outlined a maiden NI 43-101 compliant resource of nearly 580,000 ounces of gold at its Tembo Project in Tanzania, giving the junior a second defined development asset alongside its fully permitted Imwelo project.

The resource sits across three deposits – Ngula 1, Nyakagwe Village, and Nyakagwe East – on four granted mining licences covering about 34 square kilometres in the Lake Victoria Goldfield. The project borders Barrick Gold's Bulyanhulu Mine, one of Tanzania's largest underground gold operations.

Ngula 1 accounts for 331,000 ounces, roughly 57% of the total and nearly two-thirds of the Indicated category. The deposit extends about 600 metres along strike, remains open at depth and along strike, and will get a planned 5,000-metre infill drilling program to boost geological confidence for future mine planning, the company said.

Using higher cut-off grades, the resource outlines 400,400 ounces grading 2.13 grams per tonne at a 1.0 g/t cut-off and 280,500 ounces grading 3.08 g/t at a 1.5 g/t cut-off. Those are grade-tonnage sensitivities within the same conceptual open-pit shells, not separate resources or reserves.

Much of the resource stays classified as Inferred because of drill spacing, especially at Nyakagwe Village and Nyakagwe East. Infill drilling is supposed to improve confidence and support conversion, but there is no guarantee additional drilling will upgrade existing resources, the company cautioned.

Lake Victoria Gold also continues advancing a toll-milling deal with Nyati Resources (T) Limited involving a proposed 500-tonne-per-day processing plant on a Tembo mining licence. The arrangement would handle potential near-surface material from Ngula 1, subject to more drilling, permitting, financing, and definitive agreements.

The maiden resource covers only three of 39 exploration targets identified across the property through an integrated targeting study completed in 2020. Most historical drilling on the property has tested depths under 200 metres, leaving potential along strike and at depth. Surface sampling and historical drill intercepts are not necessarily indicative of the reported resource, the company noted.

Over coming months, Lake Victoria Gold plans to finish the close-spaced drilling at Ngula 1, update geological models, and push forward with mine-planning studies. Work on the Nyati toll-milling arrangement will continue alongside additional drilling across exploration targets. A supporting NI 43-101 technical report is due on SEDAR+ within 45 days.

The resource estimate was prepared under NI 43-101 and CIM standards by independent Qualified Persons from Obsidian Consulting Services. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and lack demonstrated economic viability. Inferred Mineral Resources carry lower confidence than Indicated, and there is no certainty further exploration will convert them to higher categories.

Future development of Tembo, including any production scenario, remains subject to more exploration, engineering studies, permitting, financing, and regulatory approvals. The company has not completed a preliminary economic assessment, pre-feasibility study, or feasibility study for the project.

Among larger peers, Newmont Mining (NEM) remains the top gold stock by hedge fund ownership at the end of the first quarter, according to Insider Monkey data. Newmont shares trade with a 0.96 statistical correlation to gold bullion and returned 6% year-to-date. Barrick Gold (B) and Alamos Gold (AGI) also ranked among hedge funds' preferred gold holdings.

The Lake Victoria Goldfield has produced several multimillion-ounce deposits across northwestern Tanzania. Tembo sits on the same regional structural corridor that hosts Barrick's Bulyanhulu operation, though mineralization on adjacent properties is not necessarily indicative of what lies beneath the project's own ground.

For a junior with a single permitted project, the Tembo resource represents a second tangible asset in a district that has already delivered scale. Infill drilling results and the Nyati toll-milling timeline will determine whether that technical milestone translates into development momentum.