Vancouver, British Columbia – May 17, 2023 – Tembo Gold Corp. (TSXV: TEM) (TBGPF: OTCBB) (FSE: T23) (“Tembo” or the “Company”) reports a further new artisanal working on the Company’s Tembo Project in the Lake Victoria goldfield in Tanzania. This artisanal activity is located on the interpreted western extension of the Buly structural zone that hosts numerous mineralized shear structures at Bulyanhulu Mine including Reef 0, 1 and 2 orebodies, and the recently announced Mwasabuka artisanal working (January 19, 2023). Recent grab samples collected at the shafts returned an average grade of 14.27g/t from a series of shafts aligned in an east-west orientation with grades ranging from 5.01g/t to 51.26g/t.
Highlights
- An artisanal working has started in a new area of the Tembo Project prospecting licence (Figure 1).
- Multiple shafts are active down to bedrock.
- This is located on the interpreted extension of the Buly Trend from the neighboring Bulyanhulu Mine of Barrick Gold.
- Airborne magnetics interpretation indicates east-west structures are the host.
- The altered and veined metabasalt host is very strongly mineralized with pyrrhotite, pyrite and minor chalcopyrite.
The Ngula Village Artisanal Workings
An entirely new artisanal working termed Ngula Village has commenced on the Tembo prospecting licence. The workings are located west of the small village of Ngula. The workings comprise a number of shafts that have reached bedrock and are reported to be as deep as 46m. There are several new shallower, more recently started shafts yet to reach bedrock.
Two of the GoldSpot study’s priority targets are located in proximity to these workings (June 1, 2021). Further developments at this location will be monitored to collect further information and representative sample of the faces being mined.
The workings are interpreted to be located between two northeast trending structures interpreted as the zone that hosts the orebodies on Barrick’s adjacent Bulyanhulu Mine (the Buly Trend), where this has been folded around within the Tembo licence area. It is thought that the structures being mined are east-west trending dilational cross-fractures between the parallel northeast trending sheared lithological contacts.
The structural interpretation is corroborated by the airborne magnetics confirming this to be the extension of the zone that hosts the recently announced Mwasabuka artisanal working close to the Bulyanhulu Mine boundary and the Buly Trend structure and geology. The magnetic interpretation also suggests there may be a number of the east-west structures to the north and south of where the current mining activity is.
This Ngula Village working is located close to the western granite greenstone contact and importantly, close to the junction of north-northwest and south-southwest linear granite greenstone contacts that may be structurally controlled and certainly warrant further investigation for potential mineralization.
The mineralization is very strong and comprises massive, stringer and disseminated pyrrhotite, with associated pyrite and chalcopyrite in highly sheared and quartz-veined metabasalt. The veining is characteristically white quartz and smokey quartz veins with sulphide primarily in the altered host rock as replacement alteration, but also within veins.
Twelve well mineralized grab samples of artisanal material have returned an average grade of 14.27g/t (Table 1). Further controlled samples will be taken from working faces to establish the overall grade of the underground exposures.
Figure 1: Location of the Ngula Village artisanal mining activity
Table 1: Selected results from random 3kg samples
| Prospect | Au Values (g/t) |
Average Au Grade (g/t) |
| Ngula Village | 6.01 5.01 11.46 14.38 8.27 14.00 28.31 5.20 5.43 7.60 51.26 16.45 |
14.27 |
Note: All assays were conducted using a 50g aliquot by Fire Assay with an AAS finish providing a detection limit of 0.01ppm to 100ppm.
Future follow-up work on this and similar targets including Mwasabuka will comprise the controlled sampling with mapping of faces and heel-toe reverse-air-blast (RAB) drilling across the structural zones. If justified, this will be followed by RC and diamond drilling to determine gold content and distribution, and attitude of mineralized structures along the strike.
Tembo Exploration Manager, Hendrik Meiring, stated, “The physical properties of the mineralised rock being mined indicate possible well-endowed geological dilational structures, which geometry is supported by the geophysical magnetic signatures obtained in this area. More planned detailed underground mapping and interpretation work will be done before drill testing activities.”
Tembo President & CEO, David Scott, stated, “Another very exciting new artisanal mining site further reinforces our confidence in the gold endowment of the Tembo Project and provides us with the necessary confidence to systematically test and evaluate the many targets that have been recognized where structures intersect. Our field teams will soon be commencing a fieldwork program to progress this test work and it is anticipated that a number of new drill ready targets will arise.”
The above information has been prepared under the supervision of Hendrik Meiring, Pr. Sci. Nat., who is designated as a “Qualified Person” with the ability and authority to verify the authenticity and validity of the data.
About Tembo
Tembo Gold is a Canadian public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”) under the symbol TEM. The Company has a 100% interest in the Tembo Gold Project which has over forty thousand meters of drilling and is located adjacent to Barrick’s 20Moz Bulyanhulu Mine in Tanzania’s prolific Lake Victoria Goldfield. Tembo recently completed a transaction with Barrick (who now owns approximately five percent of Tembo), whereby Tembo sold six of its non-core licenses to Barrick for $6mm USD, and Barrick is committed to spending $9mm USD over the first four years. Additionally, Tembo will receive contingent payments of up-to $45mm USD on the first five million ounces discovered by Barrick. The company has assembled a highly experienced team with a track record of developing, financing, and operating mining projects in Africa. Tembo is focused on the discovery and development of world-class gold projects in Africa as well as seeking additional opportunities that can bring value to the company and shareholders.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Tembo, David Scott, President & CEO
David Scott
President & CEO
Phone: +255 767 366 146
Email: dscott@lakevictoriagold.com
For more information please contact:
Simon Benstead
Director & CFO
Phone: 604-685-9316
Email: investors@lakevictoriagold.com
Marc Cernovitch
Director
Phone: 604-685-9316
Email: mcernovitch@lakevictoriagold.com
Certain information set out in this news release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “seek”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “intend”, “could”, “might”, “should”, “believe” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions and expectations of management of the Company as at the effective date of such statements and, in certain cases, information provided or disseminated by third parties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, and that information obtained from third party sources is reliable, they can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions regarding, among other things, the ability to develop the Company’s properties, the economic climate in the jurisdictions where the Company carries on operations and commodity prices. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this document, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this document, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, a significant drop in the price of gold, political turmoil in Tanzania and other risk factors set forth in the Company’s continuous disclosure. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. These statements are made as at the date hereof and unless otherwise required by law, the Company does not intend, or assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.
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