Lake Victoria Gold Balances Analyst Backing Against Gaps in Imwelo Planning

Atrium Research reaffirmed its buy rating on Lake Victoria Gold on Tuesday, keeping a price target of CA$0.65, as analyst Ben Pirie stuck with his existing view of the company. The endorsement lands at a moment when the miner is pushing ahead with preparations for the first open pit at its Imwelo project in Tanzania — a project that is fully permitted but still lacks a feasibility study.

Drilling at Area C takes centre stage

The company reported yesterday that a grade-control drill program is now underway in the Area C zone. Spanning roughly 6,500 metres, the campaign is designed to sharpen mine planning and lay the groundwork for the first mining activities, according to the company. Area C is earmarked as the initial open-pit area at Imwelo, and Lake Victoria Gold is deploying reverse-circulation drilling for the task. Completion is targeted for February 2027.

A second rig is set to join the effort to help move the work along. The drill spacing of 10 × 10 metres focuses on the top 20 metres of the planned pit, and the results are meant to inform both mine planning and stockpile management. That tight grid underscores what is at stake: the company needs a far more detailed picture of near-surface ore distribution before it can prepare for mining. High-grade intercepts offer some guidance, and their practical value grows if further drilling allows the material to be classified with sufficient confidence.

Results reported on 27 August from Area C, for instance, included 28.71 grams of gold per tonne over 2.75 metres. Earlier drilling also confirmed mineralisation beyond the eastern and western pit margins. Even so, the near-surface work takes priority for investors weighing the next step. Mineralisation outside the pit boundaries could open up development options down the road, but preparation of the first mining stage depends first on detailed knowledge within the planned starter area.

Financing runs on a separate track

On 30 October, Lake Victoria Gold said it would pursue its shareholder offering independently of the proposed investment from HOB Energy. The plan envisages up to 16,666,666 shares at $0.30 apiece, for gross proceeds of up to $5,000,000. The funds are intended to cover compensation payments for land at Imwelo and the grade-control drilling. The offering remains subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

Infrastructure and metallurgy lend support

The project's physical build-out offers grounds for optimism. Road repairs are finished and the construction camp is largely complete — progress that supports on-site preparation while the geological work proceeds in parallel. Metallurgical testing adds another data point: gold recovery rates of up to 96–97% were achieved on transitional and fresh rock.

Clay material tells a more nuanced story. For weathered clay, pre-treatment lifted extraction from 49.99% to 84.54% within 24 hours, though that higher figure applies to the pre-treated fraction. Gauging the processing route therefore still hinges on what further optimisation delivers for the material actually intended for the plant, and extrapolating individual test results to full-scale operations carries uncertainty.

The missing feasibility study

The most serious counterargument lies in the technical and economic assurance that has yet to be delivered. Imwelo has no feasibility study with NI 43-101 mineral reserves, so investors must accept weaker underpinning for project assumptions until that study exists. CEO Marc Cernovitch, as cited by Mining Weekly, called the program an important step toward production preparation.

The upside case rests on geology, processing and infrastructure dovetailing reliably. Should the grade-control results give a consistent basis for the first mining stages, ore and waste boundaries could be drawn more precisely and material stockpiling prepared more deliberately. The downside case would gain traction if the close-spaced drilling paints a less dependable picture of ore distribution, or if processing needs further adjustments — in which case the work could expose more rework than the hoped-for simplification.

Either way, the quality of the results will matter more than the metres drilled. The programme's planned wrap-up by the end of February 2027, with the second rig supporting execution, is the next firm checkpoint. What counts for investors is whether Lake Victoria Gold can translate the findings into a more precise and technically better-supported preparation of its first open pit.