In another major milestone at the Tuvatu Gold Project, Lion One has commenced an environmental impact assessment (EIA) at the flagship site on Fiji’s Viti Levu Island. The EIA will reference findings from a previous baseline study of the gold mine site completed by Emperor Gold Mines in 1997.
Lion One’s chairman Walter H Berukof says, “The EIA is an integral part of the mining licence application and permitting process for the Tuvatu project. In conjunction with the EIA, the company continues to conduct drilling and development work to expand the resource and advance the project towards production.”
The company has also completed the rehabilitation of the Tuvatu exploration decline to a depth of 152 metres and this has passed inspection by Fiji’s Director of Mines.
“The disuse of the decline in recent years has resulted in groundwater ingress, but recent tests have determined that uncontaminated fresh water being drained is not detrimental to adjacent water courses or local communities. A Liquid Waste Discharge Permit has been granted for ongoing dewatering by Fiji’s Department of the Environment,” says Walter Berukof.
The project is on the margins of the Navilawa Caldera, along Fiji’s corridor of mineralized volcanic centres, about 50km southeast of the 11 million ounce Vatukoula gold deposit. The Fijian Islands exhibit similar island arc geology that gives rise to many of the South West Pacific’s major gold deposits such as Ok Tedi, Porgera and Lihir.
Lion One will file the completed EIA with Fiji’s Mineral Resources Department in conjunction with a mining licence application for Tuvatu.