- Two rigs to target gold mineralisation below the open pit
and an additional rig will undertake scout drilling of four
exploration targets along the Adumbi mineralised structural
trend
TORONTO, Aug. 13,
2024 /CNW/ - Loncor Gold Inc. ("Loncor"
or the "Company") (TSX: LN) (OTCQX: LONCF) (FSE:
LO51) is pleased to announce that drilling equipment and personnel
have arrived at the Adumbi camp to resume drilling on the Company's
flagship Adumbi gold project and at four prospects within the Imbo
exploitation licence and where Loncor Gold has a 84.68%
attributable interest. Adumbi is situated approximately 220
kilometres from Africa's largest
gold mine, Barrick Gold/ AngloGold
Ashanti's Kibali Gold Mine, a hub for many mining related
contractors in the DRC.
Two core rigs will focus on a 11,000-metre-deep drilling program
below the Adumbi open pit where an indicated mineral resource
of 1.88 million ounces of gold (28.185 million tonnes grading 2.08
g/t Au), and an inferred mineral resource of 1.78 million ounces of
gold (20.83 million tonnes grading 2.65 g/t Au) have already been
delineated within a USD1,600/oz open
pit shell.
The Adumbi resource remains open at depth below the USD1,600/oz pit shell with the favourable Banded
Ironstone Formation (BIF) host increasing in thickness. As
stated in the Company's press release of December 19, 2023, the Company estimates the
potential Adumbi underground exploration target below the
USD1,600/oz pit shell as between 8.9
million tonnes to 9.6 million tonnes grading 4.7 g/t Au to 4.9 g/t
Au to a depth of 800 metres (reference is made to the said press
release, which can be found at SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, for
additional information with respect to this estimate). These
potential quantities and grade are conceptual in nature as there
has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and
it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the Adumbi
underground exploration target being delineated as a mineral
resource.
Fifteen intersections are proposed below the pit shell in order
to outline an inferred underground mineral resource (see Figure 1
below showing intended 15 drill interceptions below the Adumbi pit
shell). Of the fifteen proposed intersections, six
interceptions will be wedged off nine deeper holes in order to save
time and costs.
In addition, a further core rig has been mobilised to undertake
initial scout drilling on four exploration targets, 8 to 13
kilometres to the southeast from Adumbi on the same major
structural shear across the Imbo river at Imbo East.
Geological mapping, soil geochemical, rock chips and channel
sampling of old colonial trenches and artisanal workings have
outlined four significant mineralized trends at Esio Wapi,
Museveni, Mungo Iko and Paradis.
An initial 12 hole (2,400 metre) drill program will test
these four targets.
Loncor's Chief Executive Officer, John
Barker, commented: "The imminent drilling below Adumbi's
3.66 million ounce "in pit" resource has the potential to push the
high-grade deposit aggressively towards Tier 1 status. The
drilling has been made possible by the cash raised by the
Cdn$13.5 million asset sale announced
in December 2023, without recourse to
equity holders."
Loncor's independent geological consultants Minecon Resources
and Services Limited undertook the Adumbi underground exploration
target tonnage and grade estimation ranges. The Adumbi
3-dimensional ("3-D") model was constructed using cross
sectional and horizontal flysch plans of the geology and
mineralization and was used to assist in constraining the 3-D
geological model. This underground exploration target has
been estimated to a maximum depth of 800 metres below surface.
Qualified Person
Peter N. Cowley, who is President of
Loncor and a "qualified person" as such term is defined in National
Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical
information in this press release.
Technical Report
Additional information with respect to the Company's Adumbi deposit
(and other properties of the Company within its Imbo Project) is
contained in the technical report of New SENET (Pty) Ltd and
Minecon Resources and Services Limited dated December 15, 2021 and entitled "NI 43-101
Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Adumbi Deposit in the
Democratic Republic of the
Congo". A copy of the said report can be obtained from
SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and EDGAR at
www.sec.gov.
About Loncor Gold Inc.
Loncor is a Canadian gold exploration company focussed on the Ngayu
Greenstone Gold Belt in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the
"DRC"). The Loncor team has over two decades of
experience of operating in the DRC. Loncor's growing resource
base in the Ngayu Belt currently comprises the Imbo and Makapela
Projects. At the Imbo Project, the Adumbi deposit holds an
indicated mineral resource of 1.88 million ounces of gold (28.185
million tonnes grading 2.08 g/t gold), and the Adumbi deposit and
two neighbouring deposits hold an inferred mineral resource of
2.090 million ounces of gold (22.508 million tonnes grading 2.89
g/t Au), with 84.68% of these resources being attributable to
Loncor. Following a drilling program carried out by the
Company at the Adumbi deposit in 2020 and 2021, the Company
completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") of the Adumbi
deposit and announced the results of the PEA in December
2021. The Makapela Project (which is located approximately 50
kilometres from the Imbo Project) has an indicated mineral resource
of 614,200 ounces of gold (2.20 million tonnes grading 8.66 g/t Au)
and an inferred mineral resource of 549,600 ounces of gold (3.22
million tonnes grading 5.30 g/t Au). On December 13, 2023, Loncor announced the sale of
the Makapela Project, which sale is expected to be completed during
the third quarter of 2024.
Additional information with respect to Loncor and its projects
can be found on Loncor's website at www.loncor.com.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Readers
National
Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
("NI 43-101") is a rule of the Canadian Securities
Administrators which establishes standards for all public
disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information
concerning mineral projects. Unless otherwise indicated, all
scientific and technical information concerning Loncor's mineral
properties contained in this press release has been prepared in
accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining,
Metallurgy and Petroleum Classification System. These
standards differ from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and
scientific and technical information concerning Loncor's mineral
properties contained in this press release may not be comparable to
similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. U.S.
investors are urged to consider closely all of the disclosure in
the Company's Form 20-F Annual Report (File No. 001-
35124) and other reports filed pursuant to the United States
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which may be secured
from the Company, or from the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking
Information
This press release contains
forward-looking information. All statements, other than
statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or
developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will
or may occur in the future (including, without limitation,
statements regarding the proposed commencement of a deep drilling
program at Adumbi, the proposed commencement of initial
scout drilling on four exploration targets at Imbo East, a
potential Adumbi underground mineral resource, the potential
quantity and grade of the Adumbi underground exploration target,
further development of the Company's Adumbi deposit, mineral
resource estimates, potential mineral resource increases, potential
mineralization, drill results, future exploration and development)
are forward-looking information. This forward-looking
information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the
Company based on information currently available to the
Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number
of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the
Company to differ materially from those discussed in the
forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are
realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that
they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the
Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to
differ materially from current expectations include, among other
things, risks that the Adumbi underground exploration target will
not be delineated as a mineral resource or will be less than the
current estimated ranges of potential tonnage and grade
(potential quantities and grades for the Adumbi underground
exploration target referred to in this press release are conceptual
in nature as there has been insufficient exploration to define a
mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will
result in the target being delineated as a mineral
resource), the possibility that future exploration
(including drilling) or development results will not be consistent
with the Company's expectations, risks related to the exploration
stage of the Company's properties, uncertainties relating to the
availability and costs of financing needed in the future, failure
to establish estimated mineral resources (the Company's mineral
resource figures are estimates and no assurances can be given that
the indicated levels of gold will be produced), changes in world
gold markets or equity markets, political developments in the DRC,
gold recoveries being less than those indicated by the
metallurgical testwork carried out to date (there can be no
assurance that gold recoveries in small scale laboratory tests will
be duplicated in large tests under on-site conditions or during
production), fluctuations in currency exchange rates, inflation,
changes to regulations affecting the Company's activities, delays
in obtaining or failure to obtain required project approvals, the
uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other
geological data and the other risks disclosed under the heading
"Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's annual information
form dated April 1, 2024 filed on
SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and EDGAR at www.sec.gov.
Forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it
is provided and, except as may be required by applicable securities
laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any
forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or results or otherwise. Although
the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the
forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking
information is not a guarantee of future performance and
accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information
due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
SOURCE Loncor Gold Inc.