Mr. Marc Cernovitch reports

LAKE VICTORIA GOLD ANNOUNCES IMWELO AREA C DRILLING UNDERWAY: 4,000 M TO FINALIZE PIT DESIGN & GROW OUNCES

Drilling is under way on a 4,000-metre, multipurpose program at Lake Victoria Gold Ltd.'s fully permitted Imwelo gold project in northwestern Tanzania. The first of approximately 24 planned holes has commenced at Area C, the location of the company's planned initial open pit at Imwelo.

The program integrates reverse circulation (RC) precollars with diamond core (DD) tails to reduce cost and cycle time while capturing the geotechnical and geological data required for final pit design and mine scheduling.

Program objectives

• Final pit design and geotechnical: collect oriented core and rock-mass data to refine slope angles, wall support requirements and ramp geometry; complete in-pit geotechnical domains for the final pit shells;
• Resource confidence and conversion: infill shallow gaps to improve confidence in near-surface mineralization and, where supported by results, upgrade inferred to indicated categories and increase the measured inventory in areas of sparse coverage;
• Resource growth: test down-dip extensions at approximately 100-metre and approximately 200-metre vertical depths and stepouts along strike to the west beyond the current pit limits;
• Grade-control readiness: generate data to plan close-spaced, shallow grade-control drilling to support early mining and ROM (run-of-mine) stockpile development;
• Metallurgy: collect representative core for confirmatory test work across oxide/transition/fresh domains to validate recoveries and inform early mine sequencing.

Marc Cernovitch, president and chief executive officer, commented: "Kicking off drilling at Area C is a tangible step toward first production at Imwelo. This program is designed to tighten our final pit design, convert ounces where appropriate and set up grade control so that, once construction begins, we can move quickly into prestrip and stockpiling. With a low-capex build plan and a fully permitted project, each metre drilled reduces risk and advances Imwelo along the development path."

Program design and first hole

• Shallow infill: Eight holes will target gaps near the eastern and western pit margins and one central area, with intersections planned at approximately 25-metre and 50-metre vertical depth to tighten lateral pit boundaries.
• Depth extensions: Thirteen holes are planned on approximately 100-metre section spacing to test the mineralized lodes at approximately 150 metres and 200 metres below surface, with the objective of upgrading classification down-dip and assessing the case for a future underground phase following the open-pit operation (currently envisioned at approximately 18 to 24 months of pit life).
• Western stepouts: Three holes are positioned west of a north-northeast-trending dike-filled fault that truncates Area C at its western end; the structure is interpreted to offset mineralization 50 to 70 metres to the north. These holes will test for continuity across the displacement.
• Hangingwall/footwall potential: All holes are designed to drill completely through the existing modelled zone to evaluate additional hangingwall and footwall lodes not included in the current historical resource and pit design.

First hole -- IMWRD_005: Drilling has commenced on IMWRD_005, designed to intersect the Area C mineralization at approxmately 120 metres vertical depth near the western end of the zone. The hole is planned as an RC precollar to approximately 80 metres, followed by an approximately 150-metre DD tail to a projected final depth of approximately 230 metres.

Context -- select historical results (Area C, western end):

• IMWRC-037: 2.0 metres at 5.06 grams per tonne gold from 15 metres and 6.8 metres at 14.6 grams per tonne gold from 33.2 metres;
• IMWRC-038: 2.0 metres at 7.5 grams per tonne gold from 22 metres.

Notes: Intervals are downhole lengths; true widths are unknown. The source is Measured Group Pty. Ltd.'s geology and resource estimate report on the Imwelo project, Tanzania, May, 2017.

Seth Dickinson, BE (mining), chief operating officer, added: "We've engineered this campaign to answer the last technical questions: slope angles, ramp geometry and continuity down-dip and to the west. By combining RC with diamond tails, we keep costs down without compromising core data quality. The work also builds the data set we need for grade-control design and early mining while testing the deeper potential that could support a follow-on underground phase."

Program highlights (what to watch):

• Western stepouts: test continuity across the dike fault; success could extend the open-pit shell to the west.
• Down-dip holes (approximately 100 metres and approximately 200 metres): target resource conversion (inferred to indicated) and evaluate underground potential beneath Area C;
• Geotechnical core: oriented DD for slope angles/ramp geometry to finalize pit design parameters;
• Metallurgical test work: composites across oxide/transition/fresh to confirm recoveries and fine-tune early mine scheduling.

The company expects to provide periodic updates on drilling progress and initial assay results once received and validated under Lake Victoria Gold's quality assurance/quality control protocols.

Cautionary note on production decision

Although Imwelo has been the subject of JORC-compliant (Joint Ore Reserves Committee) preliminary economic assessment, prefeasibility study and updated PFS work, these foreign-code studies are not current under National Instrument 43-101. The company has not completed a feasibility study on Imwelo that establishes mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability and is not treating the JORC-based estimates or analyses as current under CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum) definition standards. Any decision to commence production is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves and therefore involves increased uncertainty and a higher risk of economic and technical failure. There is no certainty that the planned low-capex open-pit operation will be economically viable or that production will occur as anticipated. Risks include, without limitation, variations in grade and recovery, unexpected geotechnical or metallurgical challenges, cost overruns, financing availability, and operational, regulatory or permitting risks.

Qualified person

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by David Scott, PrSciNat, who is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Scott is a director and officer of the company.

Investor relations engagements

Lake Victoria Gold has retained Market IQ Media Group Inc. (MIQ) and Sidis Holdings to provide investor relations and capital markets advisory services. The engagements are for an initial term of six months, renewable by mutual agreement, and may be terminated by either party on 30 days of notice. MIQ and Sidis will receive a fee of $100,000 each. MIQ and Sidis are arm's length to the company. To the company's knowledge, MIQ and Sidis do not own or control any securities of the company. The engagements are subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Lake Victoria Gold Ltd.

Lake Victoria Gold is a rapidly growing gold exploration and development company listed on the TSX-V under the symbol LVG. Leveraging its unique position and experience, the company is principally focused on growth and consolidation in the highly prolific and prospective Lake Victoria goldfield in Tanzania.

The company has a 100-per-cent interest in the Tembo project, which has over 50,000 metres of drilling and is located adjacent to Barrick's Bulyanhulu mine. The company also holds a 100-per-cent interest in the Imwelo project, which is a fully permitted gold project west of AngloGold Ashanti's Geita gold mine. With historical resource estimates and a 2021 prefeasibility study, the project is fully permitted for mine construction and production, positioning it as a near-term development opportunity.

Lake Victoria Gold has assembled a highly experienced team with a record of developing, financing and operating mining projects in Africa, with management, directors and partners owning more than 60 per cent of the shares. Notably, the company is grateful for the validation that comes with the support and equity investment from Barrick and recent strategic partnership with Taifa Group.

Taifa Group (a diverse group of companies with interests in, amongst others, mining, telecoms, oil and gas, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, and leather) has entered into an agreement with the company to obtain an equity stake in the company and through its wholly owned subsidiary, Taifa Mining (a wholly Tanzanian-owned company), or other nominees. Taifa Mining will also carry out all the contract mining and civil works for the Imwelo project. Taifa Mining is Tanzania's largest mining contractor with over 30 years of mining-related experience. Taifa has been the contractor of choice to most mines in Tanzania and has maintained long and successful relationships with companies such as Petra, De Beers, Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti. In addition, Taifa also owns the largest fleet of mining equipment in Tanzania. As a company, Taifa is committed to adopting and adhering to the latest internationally recognized standards throughout all aspects of its business.

We seek Safe Harbor.