Lionsgold Regulatory News (LION)

Lionsgold Limited

("Lionsgold", "LION" or the "Company")

Finland Gold Licences and JV Stake Increase

Lionsgold (LSE: LION), the AIM-quoted gold-focused company involved in the exploration, production and retail application of physical gold, including the development of the digital currency Goldbloc, is pleased to provide an update on its activities in Finland undertaken by its Finnish joint venture ("JV") company, Kalevala Gold Oy ("Kalevala").

Highlights

· Lionsgold has increased its Finland JV interest to 30% following the injection of additional working capital. 

· Kalevala has received permission to undertake test processing on an initial 200 tonne sample from the Kuikka Gold Deposit in order to fine tune plant recoveries, bulk sampling procedures and protocols for a planned bulk sampling programme. 

· The company has until 20 June 2018 to complete the test sample. Following completion Kalevala will seek permission to conduct a 5,000 tonne bulk sample of the Kuikka deposit.

· Kalevala has received an additional prospecting licence (1,214km2) which provides significant coverage of the gold prospective Kuhmo Greenstone Belt.

Cameron Parry, Lionsgold CEO, commented: "We are pleased to report on the progress of our Finland Gold JV company, Kalevala. Approvals have been received for Kalevala to process 200 tonnes of material from our Kuikka high grade gold deposit as part of the commissioning of the gold recovery pilot plant for the planned bulk sampling.

"Additionally, a new prospecting licence has been granted to Kalevala immediately resulting in a five-fold increase in the combined area held under licence with Kalevala now holding approximately 1,500km2 of gold prospective ground in Finland, including over 90% of the Suomussalmi Greenstone Belt and significant coverage of the Kuhmo Greenstone Belt.

"Also significant, Lionsgold has increased its Finland JV interest to 30% following a recent injection of €60,000 in working capital to Kalevala.

"Progress is also being made regarding our activities and interests in India and our financial technology subsidiary, in particular surrounding the release of Goldbloc this quarter, and we look forward to updating shareholders over coming weeks on both of those business divisions."

Additional Prospecting Licence Granted

Kalevala has received notification that it has been awarded the Kuhmo Prospecting Licence following a previous application.

The Kuhmo Prospecting Licence (#VA2017: 0074) ("Kuhmo Licence") has a total area of 1,213.92 km² and is located within the municipalities of Suomussalmi, Hyrynsalmi, Kuhmo and Sotkamo in east-central Finland. The licence is valid through to 10 September 2019 and includes permission to explore for metals including gold, nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals.

The Kuhmo Licence covers a large part of the prospective Kuhmo Greenstone Belt which is located immediately south of the Suomussalmi Greenstone Belt where the Kuikka Gold Deposit is hosted. The Kuhmo Greenstone Belt is the largest Achaean greenstone belt in Finland, being up to 10km wide and more than 100km from north to south.

The award of the Kuhmo licence brings the total ground held under licence by Kalevala to 1,491.62km2. The pre-existing 277.7km2 Kalevala Prospecting Licence has an effective 90% coverage of the prospective Suomussalmi Greenstone Belt which hosts the Syrjälä Project and Kuikka Gold Deposit.

Project Background

Bulk Sampling Pilot Plant

The bulk sampling gold recovery pilot plant consists a containerised, crusher and vibromill feeding a ITOMAK 5 centrifugal separator with a production rate of up to 5 t/hr followed by a concentration/shaker table with a capacity of up to 50 kg/hr, to clean the gravity concentrate from the separator. As the Kuikka mineralisation contains free gold, gold recovery by gravity methods is expected to be high, however tailings will be securely stored onsite in case the pilot studies show further processing of tails to be economic.

The pilot plant is located within an aggregate processing facility which is fully permitted for the crushing and milling activities that will be taking place. The pilot plant incorporates a closed water settling and recirculation system to mitigate its environmental impact and minimise water consumption.

The pilot plant is located approximately 1hr 40min drive from the Kuikka Deposit, along sealed and all-weather roads.

Kuikka Gold Deposit

The Kuikka Gold Deposit ("Kuikka") is located within the Syrjälä Project area on the prospective Suomussalmi Greenstone Belt. Originally defined by 4,359m of diamond core drilling undertaken by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and the Finnish company Outokumpu Mining, Kuikka was subject to a further 937 metres of infill RAB drilling carried out by Lionsgold JV partner Mineral Exploration Network (Finland) Ltd ("MENF") in 2016 ahead of a targeted box-cut bulk sampling programme. 

During 2017 work at Kuikka concentrated on detailed planning, mapping and further grade confirmation drilling as part of the environmental permitting and optimisation of the bulk sampling programme. An additional 22 inclined RAB drill holes were drilled to help refine understanding of the morphology of the central vein and parallel gold mineralisation, to a depth of up to 10m, within the envelope of the planned bulk sample.

For further information, please visit www.lionsgold.com or contact:

About LIONSGOLD Limited (LSE: LION)

Lionsgold is a London Stock Exchange AIM market quoted, gold-focused company involved in the exploration, production and retail application of physical gold, with gold assets in India and Finland and a majority owned financial technology company developing the digital gold currency, Goldbloc.

Lionsgold's three core focuses are:

· Strategic partnership with leading India gold exploration and mine development company, Geomysore, in which Lionsgold holds 21.15%;

· Majority ownership of a financial technology platform providing online accounts for people to hold and utilise physical gold (www.goldbloc.com / www.indexgold.com / www.therealasset.co.uk); and

· Gold exploration and production in Finland via joint venture, owned 30% by Lionsgold.