Lion One Drills 6.6 m of 80.78 g/t Au in the Main Zone at Tuvatu, Fiji

North Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 10, 2023) - Lion One Metals Limited (TSXV: LIO) (OTCQX: LOMLF) (ASX: LLO) ("Lion One" or the "Company") is pleased to report exceptional high-grade gold results from ongoing infill and grade control drilling at its 100% owned Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project in Fiji.

Assay results are presented here for infill and grade control drilling completed in the Zone 5 area of the deposit, which encompasses the near-surface portions of lodes UR1 to UR8, as well as URW2A and URW3. The Zone 5 area of the deposit is scheduled for mining in early 2024. Grade control drilling is being conducted in anticipation of future mining and is therefore focused on the first part of Zone 5 to be mined whereas infill drilling is focused on the parts of Zone 5 scheduled to be mined later. Zone 5 includes the main north-south oriented lodes at Tuvatu (UR1, UR2, and UR3), and represents the upward extension of the Zone 500 feeder zone, which includes intercepts such as 20.86 g/t Au over 75.9 m (TUG-141), 12.22 g/t Au over 54.90 m (TUDDH-601), and 17.52 g/t Au over 23.7 m (TUDDH-608) (see June 6, 2022, August 15, 2022 and November 7, 2022 news releases). Zone 5 will be the second major part of Tuvatu to commence mining after mining in the URW1 area began on May 18, 2023. Once Zone 5 is in production, Tuvatu will have two major zones of very high-grade, near surface mineralization developing and producing simultaneously.

Highlights of new Zone 5 drilling:

• 80.78 g/t Au over 6.6 m (including 793.24 g/t Au over 0.6 m) (TUDDH-643, from 242.7 m depth)
• 261.93 g/t Au over 1.8 m (including 1839.55 g/t Au over 0.3 m) (TGC-0067, from 48.2 m depth)
• 93.05 g/t Au over 0.9 m (including 300.47 g/t Au over 0.3 m) (TGC-0067, from 53.3 m depth)
• 9.96 g/t Au over 6.8 m (including 165.95 g/t Au over 0.3 m) (TUDDH-653, from 89.5 m depth)
• 17.48 g/t Au over 3.3 m (including 95.63 g/t Au over 0.6 m) (TUDDH-643, from 111.6 m depth)
• 17.2 g/t Au over 2.7 m (including 124.52 g/t Au over 0.3 m) (TUDDH-651, from 194.5 m depth)
• 11.84 g/t Au over 3.9 m (including 48.27 g/t Au over 0.6 m) (TUDDH-650, from 203.5 m depth)
• 9.53 g/t Au over 3.9 m (including 55.08 g/t Au over 0.3 m) (TUDDH-653, from 53.0 m depth)
• 15.96 g/t Au over 1.5 m (including 72.46 g/t Au over 0.3 m) (TUDDH-637, from 161.7 m depth)
• 14.93 g/t Au over 1.5 m (including 23.89 g/t Au over 0.9 m) (TUDDH-650, from 192.6 m depth)

Infill drilling is being conducted from surface on approximately 20 m centers while grade control drilling is being conducted from underground on 5-10 m centers. Infill drilling is considered an intermediate stage of drilling and is designed to increase understanding of the deposit in targeted areas whereas grade control drilling is designed to provide much higher resolution and detailed understanding of the geometry and mineralization of lode arrays in advance of underground development.

Figure 1. Location of Zone 5 Infill and Grade Control Drillholes. Left image: Plan view of Tuvatu showing Zone 5 infill and grade control drillholes in relation to the mineralized lodes. Drillholes are shown in black, mineralized lodes in pale grey, and underground developments in red. The yellow dashed square represents the area illustrated in the image on the right. Right image: Oblique view of Zone 5 infill and grade control drilling looking approximately northeast. Infill drilling was conducted from surface whereas grade control drilling was conducted from underground.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/176686_500e14428483aaf2_001full.jpg

Table 1. Highlights of composited infill drill results in the Zone 5 area. For full results see Table 4 in the appendix.

Table 2. Highlights of composited grade control drill results in the Zone 5 area. For full results see Table 4 in the appendix.

Zone 5

Zone 5 is located along the main north-south corridor of Tuvatu and represents the shallower portions of the UR lodes, occurring between the surface and the exploration decline. It encompasses a series of closely spaced, narrow, high-grade to locally bonanza-grade vein arrays that strike approximately north-south to northeast-southwest and dip sub-vertically to steeply east. The lodes in the center of the corridor (UR1, UR2, UR3, URW2, URW3) are very closely spaced and strike north-south. They have an east-west width of approximately 75 m and a strike length of approximately 600 m. The lodes in the east and southeast (UR4, UR5, UR6, UR7, UR8) strike approximately northeast-southwest, are slightly wider spaced, and fan out to the east. They have a northwest-southeast width of approximately 250 m and a strike length of approximately 600 m (see Figure 2).

The lodes within the main corridor at Tuvatu have a vertical extent in excess of 1000 m and appear to coalesce at approximately 450 m depth where they transition to Zone 500 - the very high-grade feeder zone at Tuvatu. Zone 5 is located approximately 250 m directly above Zone 500. The results reported in this news release therefore represent high-grade mineralization that is the direct vertical upward extension of the Zone 500 feeder zone. The region between Zone 5 and Zone 500 has only been tested by relatively wide-spaced exploration drilling. The results reported here represent the initial stages of a more systematic infill and locally grade control drilling program in Zone 5, which has a strike length in excess of 300 m in the north-south direction and a vertical extent of approximately 250 m (see Figure 3).

Figure 2. Main Zone at Tuvatu. Left image: Plan view of Tuvatu identifying the lodes referenced in this report. Right image: Section view looking approximately northeast, showing the location of Zone 5 and Zone 500 relative to the lodes. Drillholes reported in this news release are shown in yellow for visibility.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/176686_500e14428483aaf2_002full.jpg

Figure 3. Location of High-Grade Intercepts from Zone 5 Drilling. High-grade intervals are shown for Zone 5 infill and grade control drillholes reported in this news release. Composite intervals with grades between 3 and 10 g/t Au are shown in yellow, intervals with grades between 10 and 30 g/t Au shown in red, and intervals over 30 g/t Au are shown in purple. Select high-grade intervals are identified. Image is looking approximately north-northeast, grades are gold grades in g/t.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/176686_500e14428483aaf2_003full.jpg

Infill Drilling

A total of 14 Zone 5 infill drillholes are included in this news release. The infill drill program was drilled from surface and was designed to target the near-surface portions of the main UR lodes. The goal of the program is to increase the understanding of mineralization and lode geometry in this part of the deposit, which is scheduled for mining in late 2024 and beyond. Zone 5 mining will progress upwards from the exploration decline and thus the lower portions of Zone 5 are the first scheduled for extraction. The Zone 5 infill drill program is ongoing. Examples of mineralization observed in the Zone 5 infill drillholes are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Example Mineralization from Zone 5 Infill Drilling. Top left: UR5 lode. Colloform quartz vein with abundant coarse grained honey sphalerite rimmed by fine-grained sooty pyrite (TUDDH-637, 162.0 m). Top center: UR2 lode. Narrow chalcedonic quartz vein with fine grained pyrite and sphalerite, weak potassic alteration halo (TUDDH-644, 220.3 m). Top right: Banded, vuggy and colloform chalcedonic quartz vein with coarse grained sphalerite and fine-grained pyrite and galena. Strong chocolate brown alteration halo (TUDDH-637, 220.3m). Bottom left: UR1/UR2 lodes. Wide variable white to grey silica vein with coarse grained sphalerite and pyrite (TUDDH-643, 243.9 m). Bottom center: UR1/UR2 lodes. Vuggy white silica vein with coarse grained sphalerite and pyrite (TUDDH-643, 247.6 m). Bottom right: UR1/UR2 lodes. Quartz-sphalerite-pyrite vein with abundant coarse-grained sphalerite and narrow potassic alteration halo. The inset image identifies a speck of visible gold within the yellow circle (TUDDH-643. 249.0 m). Pen used for scale.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/176686_500e14428483aaf2_004full.jpg

Grade Control Drilling

A total of 12 grade control drillholes have been completed to date in the Zone 5 area of Tuvatu, six of which are reported here. Results from the first six grade control drillholes completed in Zone 5 were reported in the news release from June 14, 2023. The grade control drillholes were drilled from underground and were designed to target the Zone 5 blocks scheduled for near-term production. This area is planned to be mined in early 2024 and results from the grade control drill program will provide increased understanding of the geometry and continuity of mineralization in those blocks and will help to optimize mine development and extraction in the near future. The grade control drill program is on schedule and the results to date confirm the local understanding of the Zone 5 geological model. Zone 5 grade control drill programs are ongoing. Examples of mineralization observed in the grade control drillholes are shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Example Mineralization from Zone 5 Grade Control Drilling. Left: URW3 lode. Monzonite hosted hydrothermal breccia with coarse grained sphalerite and pyrite (TGC-0056, 29.1 m). Center: Vuggy hydrothermal breccia with colloform silica, coarse grained sphalerite and pyrite, and strong potassic alteration halo (TGC-0067, 48.3 m). Right: Hydrothermal breccia with grey chalcedonic silica, coarse grained pyrite and sphalerite rimmed by fine grained sooty pyrite. Strong potassic alteration halo (TGC-0067, 49.0 m). Width of core is 4.76 cm in each photo.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/2178/176686_500e14428483aaf2_005full.jpg

About Tuvatu

The Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project is located on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji. The January 2018 mineral resource for Tuvatu as disclosed in the technical report "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Tuvatu Gold Project, Republic of Fiji", dated September 25, 2020, and prepared by Mining Associates Pty Ltd of Brisbane Qld, comprises 1,007,000 tonnes indicated at 8.50 g/t Au (274,600 oz. Au) and 1,325,000 tonnes inferred at 9.0 g/t Au (384,000 oz. Au) at a cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t Au. The technical report is available on the Lion One website at www.liononemetals.com and on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Person

In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43- 101"), Sergio Cattalani, P.Geo, Senior Vice President Exploration, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has reviewed and is responsible for the technical and scientific content of this news release.

QAQC Procedures

Lion One adheres to rigorous QAQC procedures above and beyond basic regulatory guidelines in conducting its sampling, drilling, testing, and analyses. The Company utilizes its own fleet of diamond drill rigs, using PQ, HQ and NQ sized drill core rods. Drill core is logged and split by Lion One personnel on site. Samples are delivered to and analyzed at the Company's geochemical and metallurgical laboratory in Fiji. Duplicates of all samples with grades above 0.5 g/t Au are both re-assayed at Lion One's lab and delivered to ALS Global Laboratories in Australia (ALS) for check assay determinations. All samples for all high-grade intercepts are sent to ALS for check assays. All samples are pulverized to 85% passing through 75 microns. Gold analysis is carried out using fire assay with an AA finish. Samples that have returned grades greater than 10.00 g/t Au are then re-analyzed by gravimetric method. For samples that return greater than 0.50 g/t Au, repeat fire assay runs are carried out and repeated until a result is obtained that is within 10% of the original fire assay run. Lion One's laboratory can also assay for a range of 71 other elements through Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), but currently focuses on a suite of 9 important pathfinder elements. All duplicate anomalous samples are sent to ALS labs in Townsville QLD and are analyzed by the same methods (Au-AA26, and Au-GRA22 where applicable). ALS also analyses 33 pathfinder elements by HF-HNO3-HClO4 acid digestion, HCl leach and ICP-AES (method ME-ICP61).

About Lion One Metals Limited

Lion One's flagship asset is 100% owned, fully permitted high grade Tuvatu Alkaline Gold Project, located on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji. Lion One envisions a low-cost high-grade underground gold mining operation at Tuvatu coupled with exciting exploration upside inside its tenements covering the entire Navilawa Caldera, an underexplored yet highly prospective 7km diameter alkaline gold system. Lion One's CEO Walter Berukoff leads an experienced team of explorers and mine builders and has owned or operated over 20 mines in 7 countries. As the founder and former CEO of Miramar Mines, Northern Orion, and La Mancha Resources, Walter is credited with building over $3 billion of value for shareholders.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of
Lion One Metals Limited
"Walter Berukoff", Chairman and CEO

Contact Investor Relations
Toll Free (North America) Tel: 1-855-805-1250
Email: info@liononemetals.com
Website: www.liononemetals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

This press release may contain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Lion One Metals Limited's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Lion One Metals Limited and on assumptions Lion One Metals Limited believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, the actual results of exploration projects being equivalent to or better than estimated results in technical reports, assessment reports, and other geological reports or prior exploration results. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Lion One Metals Limited or its subsidiaries to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the stage development of Lion One Metals Limited, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current research and development or operational activities; competition; uncertainty as to patent applications and intellectual property rights; product liability and lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting mining, timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; not realizing on the potential benefits of technology; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals. Although Lion One Metals Limited has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Lion One Metals Limited does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Appendix 1: Full Drill Results and Collar Information

Table 3. Composited results from infill drillholes in the Zone 5 area (grade >0.5 g/t Au)

Table 4. Composited results from grade control drillholes in the Zone 5 area (grade >0.5 g/t Au)

Table 5. Collar coordinates for grade control and infill drillholes reported in this release. Coordinates are in Fiji map grid.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/176686