Mid-March announced laboratory results on gold explorer and developer Lake Victoria Gold’s Imwelo gold project confirm that the mineralisation is largely free-milling and demonstrates gold recoveries of up to 96% and 97% using conventional gravity concentration and cyanide leaching.

This metallurgical testwork was undertaken after drill core samples were obtained from a recently completed drill programme at Area C of the Imwelo project, in northern Tanzania’s Lake Victoria Goldfield.

The results derisk the metallurgical profile of the Imwelo project and support Lake Victoria Gold’s strategy of advancing the project toward near-term gold production.

“These metallurgical results represent an important milestone in advancing Imwelo toward production,” says Lake Victoria Gold president and CEO Marc Cernovitch.

In more detail, the metallurgical testwork shows a recovery of up to 97% gold through bottle roll cyanide leaching tests, while a strong gravity recoverable gold component – about 42% to 47% – was also confirmed across multiple test programmes. This is considered strong for openpit gold deposits, notes Lake Victoria Gold.

Eighty-four per cent of gold is capable of being directly cyanide-leachable, with high downstream recoveries of about 95% from gravity tails cyanidation.

In addition, the most recent round of metallurgical testwork points to further metallurgical consistency, notes Lake Victoria Gold in a statement, with the March results confirming findings from earlier test programmes completed in 2013, 2014 and 2017, thereby increasing confidence in expected plant performance.

These results further support the company’s ongoing engineering and mine planning work as Imwelo advances toward near-term gold production.

Lake Victoria Gold is currently integrating the results into ongoing final mine planning, process plant design optimisation, production scheduling and engineering studies.

The key testwork components included diagnostic leach testing, gravity recoverable gold testing, bottle roll cyanide leaching, intensive leaching of gravity concentrates, cyanidation of gravity tails and bond work index determination.

Why These Results Matter

The metallurgical results significantly derisk the development pathway for the Imwelo project as they imply a simple processing route.

Here, the results confirm that gold can be recovered through a conventional gravity and carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit – one of the most widely used and reliable gold processing methods, globally.

The results also point to early gravity recovery of gold. The presence of a strong gravity recoverable gold component means a significant portion of gold may be recovered early in the processing circuit, which can enhance operating efficiency and reduce processing risk.

The high gold recoveries, combined with a simple gravity-CIL processing flowsheet, support robust project economics and relatively low processing risk – key attributes commonly associated with successful openpit gold operations, the company says in a statement.

“Deposits that combine simple metallurgy, strong gravity recovery and high cyanide recoveries are widely recognised as among the most attractive development opportunities in the gold sector. These characteristics support conventional processing flowsheets, predictable recoveries, and efficient advancement toward production,” says Cernovitch.

“With Imwelo located in the heart of Tanzania’s Lake Victoria Goldfield, these results reinforce its position as a low-risk, near-term gold production opportunity in one of Africa’s most prolific gold districts,” he concludes.