Mr. Todd Romaine reports
LION ONE REPORTS 3,291 OZ IN QUARTERLY GOLD RECOVERY
Lion One Metals Ltd. has released preliminary operating results from the Tuvatu gold mine in Fiji for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
The company incurred no lost-time incidents and seven medical aid incidents during the quarter resulting in a total recordable incident frequency of 4.37, which represents 4.37 recordable incidents per 200,000 hours worked. This is an improvement from the previous quarter during which the company had a TRIF of 6.55. Lion One remains focused on safe production.
Lion One Metals achieved quarterly recovery of 3,291 ounces of gold at an average head grade of 4.3 grams per tonne gold. This is a 21-per-cent increase in production compared with the previous quarter and represents a strong rebound in production following the return of Eric Setchell as director of operations in May (see news release dated May 5, 2026). Mill performance increased steadily throughout the quarter and achieved record quarterly recovery of 84.9 per cent, including a record monthly recovery of 87.7 per cent in June. Mine performance also increased significantly this quarter and achieved a total of 1,652 metres of underground mine development, including a record monthly development rate of 587 m in May. This is the second strongest quarter of development ever at Tuvatu and represents a 28-per-cent increase in development compared with the previous quarter.
Lion One president and chief executive officer Ian Berzins stated: "We're very pleased with the strong rebound in performance in the latter half of this quarter. Mine and mill performance improved across every metric compared to the previous quarter, including significant improvements in gold production, gold recovery and mine development. We achieved the best ever quarterly and monthly gold recovery at Tuvatu, the best ever monthly rate of underground development, and the second-best quarterly rate of underground development. We are well on our way to returning production back to the levels seen at the end of 2025 and to ultimately surpassing those levels as we continue to develop Tuvatu."
Preliminary quarterly production results:
- 3,291 oz of gold recovered;
- 4.3 g/t gold average head grade;
- 84.9-per-cent recovery;
- 27,985 tonnes milled;
- 1,652-metre underground mine development;
- 90-per-cent mill utilization.
Quarterly production results
Lion One Metals recovered approximately 3,291 oz of gold during the three-month period ended June 30, 2026. This represents a 21-per-cent increase from the previous quarter during which 2,726 oz of gold was recovered. The average grade for the quarter was 4.3 g/t gold, which represents a 3-per-cent increase from the previous quarter, during which the average grade was 4.2 g/t gold. The company achieved record quarterly gold recovery of 84.9 per cent, which is a significant improvement from the previous quarter, during which 71.7-per-cent recovery was achieved. The company also had strong underground mine development of 1,652 m, which is also a significant improvement compared with the previous quarter during which 1,288 m of development was achieved.
Mill performance for the quarter was strong with the mill processing a total of 27,985 tonnes of mineralized material and achieving a quarterly mill utilization rate of 90 per cent. This represents an average throughput of approximately 308 tonnes per day for the quarter, which is above the nameplate capacity of 300 tonnes per day. The flotation circuit was commissioned during the quarter and is operating continuously. The circuit is achieving strong metallurgical performance and gold recoveries increased steadily throughout the quarter as a result, culminating in record monthly recovery of 87.7 per cent in June.
A total of 1,652 m of mine development was completed during the quarter, which is the second-best quarter ever at Tuvatu and includes a record 587 m of development in May.
Qualified person statement
In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects), William J. Witte, PEng, principal adviser to the company, is the qualified person for the company, and has reviewed and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release.
Lion One Laboratories/quality assurance/quality control
Lion One adheres to rigorous QA/QC procedures above and beyond basic regulatory guidelines in conducting its drilling, sampling, testing and analyses. The company operates its own geochemical assay laboratory and its own fleet of diamond drill rigs using PQ, HQ and NQ sized drill rods.
Diamond drill core samples are logged by Lion One personnel on site. Exploration diamond drill core is split by Lion One personnel on site, with half core samples sent for analysis and the other half core remaining on site. Grade control diamond drill core is whole core assayed. Core samples are delivered to the Lion One laboratory for preparation and analysis. All samples are pulverized at the Lion One lab to 85 per cent passing through 75 microns, and gold analysis is carried out using fire assay with an AA finish. Samples that return grades greater than 10.00 g/t Au are reanalyzed by gravimetric method, which is considered more accurate for very high-grade samples.
Duplicates of 5 per cent of samples with grades above 0.5 g/t Au are delivered to ALS Global Laboratories in Australia for check assay determinations using the same methods (Au-AA26 and Au-GRA22 where applicable). ALS also analyses 33 pathfinder elements by HF-HNO3-HClO4 acid digestion, HCl leach and ICP-AES (method ME-ICP61). The Lion One lab can test a range of up to 71 elements through inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) but currently focuses on a suite of 26 important pathfinder elements with an aqua regia digest and ICP-OES finish.
About Lion One Metals Ltd.
Lion One Metals is an emerging Canadian gold producer headquartered in North Vancouver, B.C., with new operations established in late 2023 at its 100-per-cent-owned Tuvatu alkaline gold project in Fiji. The Tuvatu project comprises the high-grade Tuvatu alkaline gold deposit, the underground gold mine, the pilot plant and the assay lab. The company also has an extensive exploration licence covering the entire Navilawa caldera, which is host to multiple mineralized zones and highly prospective exploration targets.
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