Tuvatu is a high grade alkaline gold deposit forming a small part of the 7 km diameter Navilawa Caldera on a corridor of high grade alkaline gold systems in Fiji.

The Project lies within the Fiji Gold Trend, which is a northeast trending extensional fault zone across northern Viti Levu and Vanua Levu (the two main Fijian islands). Virtually all significant gold occurrences in Fiji occur along the Fiji Gold Trend in clusters surrounding igneous craters such as the Tavua Caldera hosting the Vatukoula Gold Mine and the Navilawa Caldera hosting Tuvatu.

The main characteristics of these gold deposits/occurrences are:

1. The gold is igneous hydrothermal (250°C) in origin, introduced by the potassic, shoshonitic tertiary intrusives, which represent the feeders and latest phases of the volcanic rocks that dominate northern Fiji. Hydrous mineral phases (biotite and hornblende, particularly) in the intrusives develop whenever the hydrothermal mineralization systems have developed.
2. Gold is generally vein-controlled and can be restricted to narrow bonanza-grade lodes within weakly altered host rocks. Primary gold is fine-grained and can be in the following forms:
- Gold-silver tellurides
- Electrum
- Native gold
- Gold-bearing pyrite
3. Common minerals associated with mineralization are:
- Quartz
- Carbonates
- Adularia - K-feldspars
- Pyrite
- Roscoelite (green vanadium-titanium micas)
- Smec ........

Recent studies assume a longhole stope mining method with only minor airleg stoping to be undertaken. Several criteria, including Lion One’s production and financial targets, led Lion One to adopt mechanized longhole stoping as the primary stoping method rather than the entire operation being handheld mining as envisioned in the 2015 PEA. The mechanized longhole stoping method is also well suited to the geological and geotechnical aspects of the mineralized material body, allows for an increased production rate compared to airleg stoping, and is lower risk as a non-entry mining method. Stoping of flatter dipping mineralized material body areas (less than 1% of stope tonnes), where longhole stoping is not viable, will be excavated via handheld airleg mining techniques.

The Tuvatu deposit has a north–south strike of approximately 800 m. The proposed layout shows mine access from two portals: the existing exploration portal and a new portal, which will access the main haulage decline. The existing exploration decline was previously mined to approximately 3.0 m wide x 3.0 m high. The new design proposes stripping this decline to a 4.5 m wide x 4.5 m high drive size (the same profile as the main decline) to allow a second means of access at a sufficient size for the selected truck fleet. The exploration decline will be the primary haulage route for the initial part of the Project until the link drive is established to the new main decline. At this point, the main declin ........

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