Lake Victoria Gold Advances Imwelo Met Work as Barrick Holds Stake Next to Tembo

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1. Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports. The company pays a monthly sponsorship fee of US$3,000–US$6,000 for banner advertising and an enhanced company profile page. Streetwise Reports’ editorial content is fully independent and is not influenced by sponsorship. 
2. As of the date of this article, officers, contractors, shareholders, and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Lake Victoria Gold Ltd and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. 
3. Cori Fisher wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. 
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1. Ownership and Share Structure Information

The information listed above was updated on the date this article was published and was compiled from information from the company and various other data providers.

Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. (LVG:TSX.V; LVGLF:OTCQB; E1K:FSE) released metallurgical testwork results on September 24, 2026, showing attrition scrubbing and desliming lifted 24-hour gold extraction on weathered Area C material at its fully permitted Imwelo project from 49.99% to 84.54%.

The results support process design for early mining sequence material at the project, which sits in Tanzania's Lake Victoria goldfield, west of AngloGold Ashanti's Geita mine.

Key Investor Takeaways

• September 24, 2026, metallurgical results demonstrate a preferred pretreatment route that materially improves gold extraction and slurry handling on weathered Imwelo material.
• Barrick Gold Corporation's equity stake and exploration partnership validate the geological setting of the adjacent Tembo project next to Bulyanhulu.
• Imwelo's location near AngloGold Ashanti's Geita mine places Lake Victoria Gold in a district with established major producers.
• Maiden Tembo resource of nearly 580,000 ounces announced August 11, 2026, adds development optionality alongside Imwelo's permitted status.
• High insider and strategic partner ownership exceeding 60% aligns interests with the Barrick and Taifa relationships.
• Imwelo process design now incorporates metallurgical data across weathered, transitional, and fresh mineralization zones.

Latest News: Imwelo Metallurgical Progress

The September 24 release details how pretreatment improved recoveries and slurry handling on clay-rich near-surface mineralization. Bottle-roll tests reached up to 88.15% recovery on the pretreated fraction. This builds on earlier work showing up to 96-97% recoveries on transitional and fresh material. The company also reported high-grade near-surface drilling in August 2026, including 28.71 g/t Au (gold) over 2.75 m (meters).

Marc Cernovitch, President and CEO of Lake Victoria Gold, said in the release, "We designed this program to answer a practical engineering question: how should we treat the clay-rich material expected early in the Area C mining sequence? The results give us a clear preferred processing direction, with scrubbing and desliming materially improving gold extraction and slurry handling. Combined with the strong recovery profile already established for the deeper transitional and fresh material, we now have a much stronger metallurgical basis for advancing Imwelo's process design. This is another important step in moving the project from engineering into execution."

Strategic Positioning Next to Major Producers

Barrick Mining Corp. (ABX:TSX; B:NYSE) holds an equity stake in Lake Victoria Gold following a 2022 asset purchase agreement under which Barrick acquired six non-core licenses for US$6 million upfront plus up to US$45 million in contingent payments tied to discoveries. Barrick committed to US$9 million in exploration spending on the acquired licenses, alongside up to US$45 million in contingent payments tied to discoveries. 

The Tembo project, 100% owned by Lake Victoria Gold, lies directly adjacent to Barrick's Bulyanhulu mine, a long-producing underground operation. A maiden NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for Tembo, released August 11, 2026, outlined 99,700 indicated ounces and 480,100 inferred ounces. Imwelo lies near AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.'s (AU:NYSE; ANG:JSE) Geita mine, one of the district's major operations. Barrick's equity position of CA$1.5 million for approximately 3% ownership provides Lake Victoria Gold with ongoing geological insights from Barrick's exploration program without capital obligations on the core Tembo ground.

The Gold Market

Gold prices remained elevated in late September 2026, although the metal had pulled back from earlier highs amid renewed expectations for higher U.S. interest rates. As of September 25, Kitco's live gold price showed spot gold at approximately US$4,275 per ounce, while Trading Economics' gold market data showed prices near US$4,286 per ounce. Gold remained well above year-earlier levels, despite recent volatility. Trading Economics reported that prices had declined toward US$4,280 per ounce after stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data boosted the dollar and increased expectations for additional Federal Reserve tightening.

The recent pullback followed a period of significant gains for the metal. The World Gold Council reported that August was the third-strongest month for gold's performance in 25 years, supported by exchange-traded fund flows, futures activity, and options positioning. The council's latest quarterly data also showed that total gold demand, including over-the-counter activity, reached 2,522 tonnes during the first half of 2026, up 2% year over year, while the value of demand reached a record US$380 billion.

Ben Pirie of Atrium Research reiterated a "Buy" rating and CA$0.65 price target for Lake Victoria.

The LBMA gold price averaged US$4,506.29 per ounce during the second quarter, 37% above the year-earlier average. Central-bank purchases rebounded to 289 tonnes in the second quarter, while investment demand remained an important source of market support. High prices, however, reduced jewelry demand to 278 tonnes, the lowest quarterly level since the pandemic.

Recent market commentary has focused on the competing effects of monetary policy, inflation, currency movements, and geopolitical risk. Kitco reported on September 21, 2026, that Standard Chartered viewed structural factors as providing support for gold even as higher U.S. interest rates and a potentially stronger dollar created near-term volatility. Kitco's September 24 market report subsequently noted that rising oil prices, Treasury yields, and expectations for further Federal Reserve rate increases were weighing on gold, with spot prices near US$4,265 per ounce at the time. Trading Economics similarly reported that stronger U.S. private-sector data and higher Treasury yields were pressuring gold, while rising oil prices added to inflation concerns and expectations for a more restrictive monetary-policy environment.

The market, therefore, continues to balance strong investment and central-bank demand against macroeconomic factors that can affect the appeal of a non-yielding asset. The World Gold Council expects investment demand to remain an important source of gold demand during the second half of 2026, supported by over-the-counter activity and Asian buying, while high prices are expected to continue weighing on jewelry consumption. Gold's response to interest rates has also become less consistent, according to Standard Chartered's analysis cited by Kitco, suggesting that monetary policy remains an important short-term price driver while broader investment, central-bank, and geopolitical factors continue to influence the market.

Analysts Intrigued by Latest Results

Ben Pirie of Atrium Research reiterated a "Buy" rating and CA$0.65 price target for Lake Victoria in a September 24, 2026, research note. Pirie argued that the company's latest release marked an important step for Lake Victoria's Imwelo project.

He wrote, "Notably, today’s positive metallurgical testwork was performed on near-surface ore at Area C, which is currently the planned initial mining area. By largely derisking the processing portion of this mining phase, we are more confident in LVG’s ability to bring this operation into production with limited issues."

Then, on September 25, 2026, Alina Islam of Red Cloud stated that the headline results from Lake Victoria's release were positive but warned that "the head grade of the pretreated material dropped from 3.80 g/t Au to 2.87 g/t Au, implying ~25% of the gold is reporting to the slimes. Imwelo is a nuggety system, which could have distorted head grades, however results suggest a separate slimes treatment circuit may be required, adding capital and complexity to a US$15M build, especially as Area C is the first to be mined." 

Islam wrapped up, however, by writing, "That said, it is better to identify and address these issues in the lab than at commissioning, and we look forward to seeing additional test results."

Project Updates and Development Path

Imwelo remains fully permitted for mine construction and production. Recent site work includes access road repairs and earthworks. A strategic partnership with Taifa Group, Tanzania's largest mining contractor, includes an equity stake commitment and contract mining for Imwelo. 

Further optimization of the pretreatment circuit and mass balance work are planned. With the acquired licenses, Barrick's exploration work under the transaction could generate contingent payments based on mineral resources defined on those licenses. Lake Victoria Gold is advancing Imwelo toward potential construction while retaining full ownership and upside at Tembo.

Ownership & Share Information1

Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. has a market cap of CA$63.10 million, with 203.05 million shares outstanding. The company's 52-week range is CA$0.16-CA$0.36.

Institutions own 9.35% of shares, while Strategic Investors own 17.46%. Management & Insiders own 21.31%, and the remaining 51.88% of shares are held by Retail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the status of Imwelo relative to nearby major mines?

A: Imwelo is fully permitted and located west of AngloGold Ashanti's Geita mine in the same goldfield, with recent metallurgical and drilling work supporting process and mine planning.

Q: Are there research reports on Lake Victoria Gold?

A: Public research coverage is limited; a September 25, 2026, Red Cloud note discussed the latest metallurgical results but highlighted potential slime losses as a risk factor.

Q: What catalysts are upcoming?

A: Continued Imwelo construction and site development, further metallurgical optimization, and exploration results from Barrick's acquired licenses that could trigger contingent payments.