Loncor Gold Inc. (TSX:LN; OTCQX:LONCF; FSE:LO5), is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on projects within a 480km2 area on the Ngayu Greenstone Belt in the North East of The Democratic Republic of the Congo (the “DRC”). Its neighbour is Africa’s largest gold mine, the Barrick Gold-managed Kibali mine, a world class operation with grades similar to those found in Loncor’s growing resources. The area around Adumbi has a history of mining since the 1920s when the Belgians extracted modest amounts of gold, with a focus on Adumbi.
In December 2021, Loncor announced the results from a Preliminary Economic Study on the likely 3.66M oz open pit resource at Adumbi (84.68% owned by Loncor).
The pre-tax NPV@5% at US$1760/oz was US$1,243M, with further value to be added should recent drilling add underground resources in early 2022.
In total, Loncor controls 2.5 million ounces of indicated resources (30.4M tonnes @ 2.56g/t), and 2.64 million ounces (25.7M tonnes at 3.19g/t) of inferred resources, illustrating the company has more than Adumbi within its portfolio of high grade assets.
Location of Loncor’s Mining (PE) and Exploration (PR) Permits on the Ngayu Belt.
1. Developing Adumbi – PEA Proves the Potential for a Company Maker at Expanding High Grade Gold Project
The Adumbi gold deposit is found within Loncor's 84.68% owned Imbo Project area. Imbo has a 3,97 million ounce resource base (dominated by Adumbi’s open pit resource) which Loncor believes will grow significantly through future underground drilling. The relatively high grade remains a key positive, with the December 2021 PEA indicating Adumbi holds the potential of excellent cash costs and a +10 year mine life, especially if underground resources are added in 2022 and beyond.
The Adumbi Deposit
2. Explore and Develop Loncor's other projects within Ngayu
Separate from Adumbi, Loncor controls a number of other gold deposits within the Ngayu Greenstone Belt. Two other deposits, Kitenge and Manzako, have been delineated along strike from Adumbi on the Imbo Project. There is the potential that they could be incorporated into a mine plan for Adumbi.
At Kitenge, 4 kilometres southwest of Adumbi, drilling has outlined inferred resources of 191,000 ounces of gold grading 6.6 g/t Au while at Manzako, an inferred resource of 122,000 ounces of gold grading 5.0 g/t Au has been outlined. Mineralization at both Kitenge and Manzako remain open at depth and additional drilling is warranted to increase these mineral resources.
Table 1 – Summary of Loncor’s Gold Resources
Loncor controls 5.1 million ounces of resources.
Potential to grow further with Adumbi underground resources.
Loncor's indicated mineral resource - (Total & Attributable Ounces)
Deposit + Attributable % | Tonnes (million) | Gold Grade (g/t Au) | Contained Gold (000 oz) | Attributable Gold (000 oz) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adumbi - 84.68% | 28.19 | 2.08 | 1.883 | 1.594 |
Makapela - 100% | 2.21 | 8.66 | 614 | 614 |
Total Indicated | 30.39 | 2.56 | 2.497 | 2.209 |
Loncor's inferred mineral resource - (Total & Attributable Ounces)
Deposit + Attributable % | Tonnes (million) | Gold Grade (g/t Au) | Contained Gold (000 oz) | Attributable Gold (000 oz) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adumbi - 84.68% | 20.83 | 2.65 | 1.783 | 1.505 |
Kitenge - 84.68% | 0.91 | 6.60 | 191 | 162 |
Manzako - 84.68% | 0.77 | 5.00 | 122 | 103 |
Total Imbo Project | 22.508 | 2.89 | 2.090 | 1.770 |
Makapela - 100% | 3.22 | 5.30 | 550 | 550 |
Total Inferred | 25.731 | 3.19 | 2.639 | 2.320 |
Numbers may not add up due to rounding
* Used US$1600/oz gold price for pit optimization and appropriate cost and cut-off assumptions
Ten kilometres to the southeast of Adumbi, exploration including soil sampling, grab and channel sampling, have outlined four prominent mineralized trends at Esio Wapi, Paradis, Museveni and Mungo Iko. At Esio Wapi, a prominent 1.9-kilometre long soil geochemical anomaly is associated with banded ironstones similar to Adumbi with channel sampling outlining a mineralized zone grading 1.59 g/t Au over 19.80 metres. Loncor's geologists will be undertaking further exploration of these four mineralized trends with a view to generating drill targets later in 2021.
Another target of interest is Makapela, a 100% owned project approximately 50 km from Adumbi. Mineral resources were previously delineated via 65 diamond drill holes, the indicated resource totals 614,000 ozs at 8.66 g/t Au, and the inferred resource contains 550,000 ozs at 5.30 g/t Au. This 3-kilometre deposit outcrops at the surface and is open at depth. Selected previous drill intercepts included 4.30 metres true width @ 64 g/t Au and 2.53 metres true width @ 32.6 g/t Au. Given such encouraging results, Loncor will look at ways of further developing the understanding of the deposit, potentially through further drilling. Makapela has the potential to deliver high-grade gold ores to a central processing facility at Adumbi.
Loncor's emerging assets - Ongoing resource growth plus own exploration