Loncor Gold Inc has said it is hoping to develop a second mining district in the Ngayu greenstone gold belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The company announced that it has applied for an exploitation permit for the potential development of its Makapela gold resource, which boasts an indicated resource of 614,200 ounces of gold and an inferred resource of 549,600 ounces at a 2.75 grams per ton (g/t) gold (Au) cutoff.
Makapela is located around 50 kilometres from Loncor’s flagship Adumbi deposit.
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The preliminary economic assessment for Adumbi, released in December 2021, does not include the Makapela deposit.
Loncor CEO John Barker told shareholders that the award of a mining permit at Makapela would create a second avenue to release value held within the company’s deposits.
"Makapela represents a high-grade opportunity either as a potential feed source for a future gold operation at Adumbi, or as an independent stand-alone high-grade project,” Barker said in a statement.
The deposit remains open at depth, along strike, plus has a number of parallel zones that require further investigation, Barker noted.
“Within close proximity, there are a number of other deposits such as Mokepa and Mongaliema that historically have been drilled and could hold the potential of future ore feed for Makapela,” he added.
A total of 83 core holes have been drilled at Makapela with several significant drill intersections including 7.19 metres grading 64 g/t Au, 4.28 metres at 32.6 g/t Au, 3.47 metres grading 24.9 g/t Au, 4.09 metres at 21.7 g/t Au and 4.35 metres grading 17.5 g/t Au.
Loncor is a Canadian gold exploration company focused on the Ngayu greenstone gold belt in the northeast of the DRC.
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