Loncor Gold Inc. is on track to unlock the full potential of its Adumbi project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a high-grade gold deposit that could rival some of the world’s largest mines.
The Canadian company, which has a joint venture partnership with Barrick Gold, one of the leading gold producers, recently announced impressive results from its 2023 drill program, showing significant mineralization below the existing pit shell.
Adumbi currently has an indicated mineral resource of 1.88 million ounces of gold and an inferred mineral resource of 1.78 million ounces of gold, all within the USD 1,600/oz pit shell. Loncor owns 84.68% of these resources, while Barrick has a 15.32% interest.
But the exploration potential of Adumbi goes beyond the pit shell, as the drill results indicate. The company plans to start an 11,000-meter-deep drilling program in 2024 to outline an underground inferred mineral resource below the pit. They estimate the exploration target to range from 8.9 to 9.6 million tonnes, with a gold grade between 4.7 and 4.9 grams per tonne.
A World-Class Asset in a Stable Region
Adumbi is part of Loncor’s Ngayu project, which covers 3,534 square kilometers of land in the northeastern part of the DRC, near the border with Uganda. The project is located within the Ngayu greenstone belt, a geological formation that hosts some of the world’s richest gold deposits, such as the Kibali mine, operated by Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti.
The Ngayu belt is considered to be underexplored and highly prospective for gold mineralization. Loncor has pinpointed 55 priority targets within the project area, but only six of them have undergone drill testing thus far. The company believes that Adumbi is just the tip of the iceberg and that there are more discoveries to be made.
Additionally, Loncor enjoys the stability and security of the region, unaffected by the political and social unrest prevalent in other parts of the DRC. The company has a strong relationship with the local communities and authorities and operates with high environmental and social standards.
A Bright Future for Loncor and its Shareholders
Loncor’s CEO, John Barker, is confident that the company’s strategy of focusing on Adumbi and its underground potential will pay off in the long run.
“The recent non-dilutive sale of Makapela for CAD 13.5 million has strengthened our hand significantly. It allows us to drill for the potential ounces below the 3.66 million-ounce, high-grade resource delineated within the Adumbi pit outline,” he said.
“Additionally, confirmation of significant ounces at depth would allow Adumbi the flexibility to explore the economics of a combined open pit and underground project. A smaller pit would reduce strip ratios, and the underground ounces would increase the grades through the processing plant, with the overall target being an enhanced economic profile for the combined open pit and underground scenario,” he added.
The company expects to complete the deep drilling program at Adumbi by the end of 2024 and to update its mineral resource estimate accordingly. Loncor also plans to conduct further exploration of its other priority targets within the project area, aiming to unlock the full potential of the Ngayu belt.
Source: Mining Review
