Investment Highlights
- Two 100% owned projects in Tanzania’s most productive gold belt: Tembo and Imwelo are located in the Lake Victoria Goldfield, surrounded by world-class mines such as Bulyanhulu (Barrick) and Geita (AngloGold Ashanti).
- Advanced Development Project Imwelo: Fully permitted, with a historical resource of approximately 292,000 ounces of gold and an ongoing drilling program for resource expansion.
- Tembo Exploration Potential: More than 50,000 meters of drilling and US$28 million in investments – adjacent to Barrick’s 20-million-ounce Bulyanhulu mine.
- Strategic Partnerships: Support from Barrick Gold and participation from Taifa Group, Tanzania’s largest mining service provider.
- Experienced Management: Over 200 years of combined industry experience in exploration, development, and operation of African mines.
- Focus on Responsible Development: ESG-compliant operations, local value creation, and long-term partnerships in Tanzania.
Company & Strategy
Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. (TSX-V: LVG) is a growth-oriented exploration and development company focused on the development and consolidation of prospective gold projects in the Lake Victoria Goldfield in Tanzania – one of Africa’s most prolific gold regions.
The company pursues a dual growth strategy:
- Development of the permitted Imwelo Gold Project into a cost-efficient, short-term viable production mine.
- Exploration expansion of the Tembo Gold Project – a high-grade exploration area with significant regional potential – to create a pipeline of future mine projects.
Lake Victoria Gold relies on a combination of technical expertise, local partnership, and strategic capital discipline. With over 60% ownership by management and partners, the company is strongly owner-managed.
The involvement of Barrick Gold as well as the operational partnership with Taifa Mining, a subsidiary of the Taifa Group, provide Lake Victoria Gold with substantial technical, logistical, and financial support in all project phases.
Market Environment
The Lake Victoria Goldfield in Tanzania
The Lake Victoria Goldfield is one of Africa’s most significant gold provinces. Over the past decades, companies such as Barrick Gold, AngloGold Ashanti, and Shanta Gold have discovered and successfully brought into production several multi-million-ounce deposits here.
Tanzania is considered a politically stable mining location with increasing investment friendliness. The government is currently actively promoting national participation in mining projects without hindering international capital involvement – a model that Lake Victoria Gold has considered and integrated early on.
The gold market itself benefits from an environment of structurally high demand:
- Growing central bank purchases.
- Inflation and recession concerns as drivers for safe-haven assets.
- Increasing geopolitical tensions.
In this macroeconomic environment, high-quality exploration and development projects in politically stable jurisdictions like Tanzania offer an attractive investment basis.
Project Portfolio
Tembo Gold Project
Location: Sukumaland Greenstone Belt, Northwest Tanzania
Size: ~32 km² (four mining licenses)
Ownership: 100% Lake Victoria Gold
The Tembo Project is located directly adjacent to Barrick Gold’s Bulyanhulu Mine – one of Africa’s largest gold deposits with over 20 million ounces.
To date, over US$28 million has been invested in exploration, including more than 50,000 meters of drilling. The project focuses on three main targets:
Exploration and Technology Application
To refine target definition, Lake Victoria Gold collaborates with GoldSpot Discoveries Corp., a leading provider of AI and machine learning technologies for geological modeling. Previous data from more than ten years of exploration is being reinterpreted to identify high-priority drill targets.
Historical Workings and Structures
Historical workings identified over 13 km of linear structures with intense artisanal mining activity, accounting for less than 10% of the recognized structural potential. A LIDAR demography and orthophoto study revealed extensive, previously untested structures extending over 10 km to the north and 3 km to the west.
Fig. 1: Location of the Tembo Project in the Sukumaland Greenstone Belt
Collaborations
In 2021, Lake Victoria Gold sold six non-core exploration licenses to Barrick Gold (Bulyanhulu Gold Mine Ltd.). This transaction underscores the geological attractiveness of the area while generating capital and focus for the core projects.
Imwelo Gold Project
Location: Geita Greenstone Belt, Northwest Tanzania
Ownership: 100% Lake Victoria Gold
Status: Fully permitted (Mining Licence ML 538/2015)
The Imwelo Project is located approximately 12 km west of AngloGold Ashanti’s +9 million-ounce Geita Mine and is thus one of the most advanced gold development projects in the country.
Historical Resource (JORC 2012)
| Category | Gold Grade (g/t) | Gold Ounces |
| Measured | 3.15 g/t | 42,000 oz |
| Indicated | 1.95 g/t | 95,700 oz |
| Inferred | 1.56 g/t | 153,900 oz |
| Total | — | 291,600 oz |
Fig. 2: Location of the Imwelo Project in the Geita Gold Belt
Drill data shows stable, high-grade zones with intercepts of up to 14.7 g/t over 5 m and 14.2 g/t over 7 m. The geological units comprise mafic and felsic volcanics of the Lower Nyanzian stratigraphy, crosscut by gold-bearing quartz veins along lithological contacts.
Development and Permitting
The project is fully permitted:
- Environmental and Social Impact Assessment completed (NEMC 2025).
- Licensed mining area with planned open pit for the first ten years of operation.
- Design and cost estimate for processing plant, tailings dam, and infrastructure completed.
Fig. 3: Planned Open Pit – Imwelo Area C Layout
In October 2025, a 4,000 m drilling program commenced in Area C. The aim is to fine-tune the pit design, convert resources (Inferred → Indicated), test deeper structures up to 200 m, and conduct metallurgical sampling. The results are intended to contribute to the final production decision.
Technical and Economic Outlook
With a low-CAPEX approach and existing infrastructure, Lake Victoria Gold aims for short-term production commencement. The partnership with Taifa Mining ensures the execution of all construction and overburden removal work with local expertise and equipment.
Outlook
Lake Victoria Gold is at a turning point: While Imwelo transitions into the development phase, Tembo could provide the next exploration impetus in the medium term.
Short-term priorities include:
- Completion of the Imwelo Area C drilling program and subsequent resource update.
- Completion of geotechnical studies for pit design and processing plant planning.
- Preparation of the construction phase with Taifa Mining.
- Further drilling at Tembo, particularly at the Ngula 1 and Nyakagwe targets, to define an inferred resource.
- Evaluation of small-scale mining operations at Tembo to generate cash flow for self-financing further exploration.
Long-term, the company aims for regional consolidation in the Lake Victoria Goldfield to achieve economies of scale in operations, logistics, and processing.
Management
Lake Victoria Gold is led by an experienced team covering the entire value chain from exploration to production.
- Simon Benstead – Executive Chairman & CFO
Formerly Vice President at Merrill Lynch and Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets, focusing on commodities. Major shareholder of Tembo Gold, responsible for financing and strategic partnerships, including with Barrick Gold. - Marc Cernovitch – CEO & Director
Economist (McGill University) specializing in corporate development and financing of commodity and energy technology companies. - Seth Dickinson – COO & Director
Mining engineer with 30 years of experience in mine construction and operation, responsible for feasibility studies, project management, and construction execution. - David Scott – Director & Managing Director, Tanzania
Over 40 years of experience, including with Barrick Gold (Bulyanhulu Mine) and Shanta Gold. Outstanding knowledge of Tanzanian geology and mining regulations. - Hendrik Meiring – Exploration Manager
32 years of international exploration experience, including with Ivanhoe Mines, Endeavour Mining, and Barrick Exploration. Specialist in greenstone-hosted gold systems. - Dean Comand – Director
Long-standing manager in energy and mining companies (Sherritt, Capstone Mining, Hydrostor) with extensive experience in project development and governance. - Frank Högel – Director
Managing Director of Peter Beck Performance Fonds, financial expert with a focus on international capital markets. - Richard Reynolds – Director
Former CEO of Taifa Mining & Civils Ltd., responsible for major projects in East Africa, currently Senior Advisor to the Taifa Group.
This team combines technical expertise, regional experience, and capital market access, providing Lake Victoria Gold with a solid foundation for sustainable growth.
Conclusion
Lake Victoria Gold positions itself as an emerging gold developer in one of Africa’s most productive and politically stable gold regions. With two 100% owned projects – the permitted Imwelo Project and the Tembo Exploration Project – the company has a clear pipeline from short-term production commencement to long-term exploration potential.
The strategic alliances with Barrick Gold and the Taifa Group provide the company with operational strength and credibility at the highest level.
Combining experienced management, technical excellence, and growth-oriented project development, Lake Victoria Gold offers investors access to a dynamic growth story in a globally sought-after commodity sector.
