Lion One Metals Limited provided an update on ongoing operations at the company's 100% owned Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project in Fiji. The focus of mining activities during the 300 TPD pilot plant phase of operations is the development of the underground mine, with the goal of advancing the main decline to the 500 Zone as quickly as is safely possible. A secondary goal during this phase of operations is the development of as many stope access points as feasible in advance of the plant expansion to 500 TPD.

A significant portion of the material mined during the 300 TPD pilot plant phase of operations is therefore expected to be development material. As mine development has progressed at Tuvatu, additional mineralization has been discovered in areas in Zone 2 that were not previously expected to be mineralized. This includes mineralization associated with stockwork veining as well as entirely new mineralized lodes.

Many of the development headings at Tuvatu have been found to contain low-grade gold mineralization. This low-grade development material is ideal for use as feed stock to test the different gold recovery circuits during the initial stages of plant operation. Processing the development material also serves to offset costs during mine development as this material needs to be removed regardless of whether it is mineralized.

Most of the mill feed during the start-up of the 300 TPD pilot plant has therefore consisted of low-grade development material. The first production material was extracted on December 13th, 2023, from the URW1 leading edge stope in Zone 2. This stope is located outside the original PEA resource and represents an expansion of the resource. Mining activities at Tuvatu in 2024 will consist of a mix of handheld and mechanized mining methods.

Handheld mining is ideal for narrow vein mining as it is precise and enables the effective development of narrow drives, thereby minimizing dilution. Mechanized mining produces wider voids and results in a considerably higher production rate. It is therefore the preferred alternative for wider zones of mineralization that are not sensitive to dilution.

At Tuvatu there are areas more suitable for handheld mining and others more suitable for mechanized mining. The mining method employed will be tailored to the style of mineralization being extracted. Mine development is proceeding in a manner designed to preserve the optionality of switching between mining methods as appropriate.

To date, development mining at Tuvatu has progressed using both handheld and mechanized mining, yet production mining has been limited to handheld methods. Mechanized production is scheduled to start in first quarter 2024. Production mining refers to the mining of production stopes through which most of the mineralized material will be extracted, whereas development mining refers to all the supporting development required to access the production stopes, such as the declines, access drives, crosscuts, ventilation rises, and so on.

While the primary mining objective during the 300 TPD pilot plant stage is development, mine production is anticipated to steadily increase as production mining is introduced and as the number of available production areas increases ahead of the plant expansion to 500 TPD.