The first drill hole, TD01, is an 800m long hole designed to target down-dip extensions near the centre of the current resource in an area where an extremely high-grade feeder structure appears to be coalescing.
Nearby drill hole TUDDH-160 intersected 1,614g/t Au over 0.50m within a broader interval of 367g/t over 2.92m, from 333m downhole depth.
A second planned hole, TD02, is 1,000m long and targets a further 300m down-dip below TD01. Two additional planned holes, TD03 and TD04, each 1000 m long, will test down-dip areas 200m north and 200m south of TD02, respectively.
The first phase of this drill programme is designed to demonstrate that the Tuvatu resource has the potential to extend to vertical depths beyond 1,000m, so two to three times the current resource depth. The programme also tests for potential high-grade feeder structures emerging from the interpreted magma chamber underlying the 7km diameter Navilawa Caldera.
Lion One expects to expand the programme into a wider second phase with new information gained from deeper drilling. The company will utilise a deep penetrating surface drill belonging to its own drilling company, Geodrill Fiji. Once collared, TD1 is anticipated to take approximately 6-8 weeks to complete. Assays will be analysed at Lion One's own geochemical laboratory in Fiji, with duplicates of significant mineralised intercepts sent to an independent laboratory in Australia.
Lion One will soon be undertaking a systematic controlled source audio-magnetotelluric (CSAMT) geophysical survey over the recently consolidated, district-scale exploration license area covering the Navilawa Caldera. The goal of this survey is to identify deep gold-bearing structures, and it complements a recent reinterpretation of an IP survey completed in 2012 that identifies significant deep geophysical anomalies north of the Tuvatu resource thought to be associated with the core of the hydrothermal system. Once CSAMT data have been interpreted, the company's drilling programme is likely to expand to include targets in the northern part of the caldera including Banana Creek, approximately 3,000m northeast of the Tuvatu resource area.
Lion One technical advisor Quinton Hennigh said: "This high-grade feeder drill programme enables Lion One to test the alkaline gold model that we believe drives the expansive gold system within the Navilawa Caldera. We believe the deeper potential beneath the current Tuvatu resource combined with the more extensive potential of other targets within the company's new license area within the Navilawa Caldera creates a great opportunity for Lion One to demonstrate Tuvatu's potential tier-one gold asset status."
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