Lake Victoria Gold (TSXV: LVG / OTCQB: LVGLF / FSE: E1K) — The Funded Developer in Africa's Gold Belt
Investor Awareness · April 2026 Vancouver, BC · Lake Victoria Goldfield, Tanzania
East African Gold Belt

Gold is making the macro case. Lake Victoria Gold has built the execution case. Gold topped US$5,500/oz in January 2026. Central banks are buying ~850 tonnes a year. Global mine output is hitting a wall. The market is starved for funded developers in proven belts — and LVG just locked in US$25M in non-dilutive financing for a fully-permitted mine 12km from a +9M oz producer, alongside a second project adjacent to a 20 Moz mine.

TSXV-listed gold developer with two 100%-owned projects in Tanzania's Lake Victoria Goldfield: the fully-permitted Imwelo Gold Project (12km west of AngloGold Ashanti's +9M oz Geita Gold Mine) and the Tembo Project (50,000+ metres of historical drilling, adjacent to Barrick's 20 Moz Bulyanhulu Mine). Strategic equity from Barrick Gold. Strategic partnership with Taifa Group. Management, directors, and strategic partners collectively own more than 60% of outstanding shares.

Imwelo Status
Fully·
Permitted For Construction
Gold Recovery
~97%
Free-Milling Metallurgy
Funding Pathway
$25M
Non-Dilutive Gold Loan + $3M
Imwelo Neighbour
12km
From +9M oz Geita Mine
The Investment Thesis · April 2026

With capital now in place, our focus is on execution — progressing engineering, advancing site activities, and moving Imwelo toward development.

Marc Cernovitch · President & CEO · Lake Victoria Gold Ltd.
001 / The Execution Case

Most gold juniors are waiting on something. LVG isn't waiting on much.

The hardest part of being a gold developer in this market isn't the gold price — it's clearing the operational gates that stop most juniors from ever producing an ounce. Permits. Metallurgy. Funding. Processing. Alignment. LVG has cleared all five. That's not normal for a sub-C$70M market cap junior, and that's the investment story.

01
Permits

Fully Permitted for Construction

Imwelo holds Tanzanian Mining Licence ML538/2015 — a 10-year licence renewed in November 2024 — alongside full environmental approvals from the Tanzanian National Environment Management Council (NEMC). Permitting is in place for mine construction and production. The longest gate in any gold development cycle — already cleared.

02
Metallurgy

~97% Recovery, Free-Milling

March 2026 metallurgical testwork confirmed up to ~96–97% gold recovery via conventional gravity concentration and cyanide leaching. ~84% directly cyanide-leachable. Results consistent with 2013, 2014, and 2017 programs. The simplest, most reliable processing route in gold.

03
Funding

US$25M Non-Dilutive Pathway

April 2026 binding term sheet for a US$25M Monetary Metals gold loan facility — backed by up to 6,000 oz, repaid in gold ounces, scaling naturally with output — plus a fully committed $3.0M convertible debenture led by a long-term major shareholder.

04
Processing

500 tpd Plant on Site

Tembo: an existing 500 tonne-per-day carbon-in-pulp processing plant — owned by Nyati Resources — sits on one of LVG's mining licences. Advanced-stage binding negotiations toward toll milling open a parallel low-capex pathway to early-stage gold production and cash flow.

05
Alignment

Barrick + 60% Insider Ownership

Strategic equity investment from Barrick Gold. Strategic partnership with Taifa Group. Management, directors, and strategic partners collectively own >60% of outstanding shares. The kind of cap-table alignment that's normally reserved for late-stage developers, not sub-$70M juniors.

The Gating Pattern
Most gold juniors fail to reach production not because gold prices fall — but because one of these five gates won't open. LVG has opened all five.
Permits +
Metallurgy +
Funding +
Processing +
Alignment
002 / Two Projects · Two Pathways to First Gold

Imwelo for full development. Tembo for early production via toll-milling.

Most juniors have one shot on goal. LVG has structured two parallel pathways toward first gold ounces — Imwelo through formal mine construction (targeted Q2–Q3 2026, with first production expected in 2027), and Tembo through a toll-milling arrangement that uses existing on-site processing infrastructure. Both projects sit in the same prolific Lake Victoria Goldfield as some of Africa's largest producing gold mines.

Project 01 / Full Development

Imwelo Gold Project

12 km west of AngloGold Ashanti's +9M oz Geita Mine

100%-owned, fully-permitted gold project in Tanzania's Lake Victoria Goldfield. Geotechnical, specific gravity, and metallurgical work programs all completed. Final pit design advancing. The funding pathway from the Monetary Metals gold loan plus the $3M convertible is structured to take Imwelo from current state through construction.

Status Fully permitted; construction targeted Q2–Q3 2026
Recent Drilling 11.88 g/t Au over 1.33m (incl. 68.74 g/t over 0.22m)
Metallurgy ~96–97% gold recovery · free-milling · CIL route
Pit Design Consolidated single open pit; expansion confirmed E + W
Geological Setting Archean greenstone, Lake Victoria Goldfield
Project 02 / Early Production via Toll-Milling

Tembo Project

Adjacent to Barrick's 20 Moz Bulyanhulu Mine

100%-owned project with over 50,000 metres of historical drilling. December 2025 grab sampling returned grades up to 35.45 g/t Au from active artisanal workings. Close-spaced drilling planned at Ngula 1 across a 300–400m strike length. Tanzanian Mining Commission has formally initiated the Government's statutory 16% free-carried interest process — a standard regulatory milestone for projects advancing to development.

Pathway Toll-milling at Nyati's existing 500 tpd CIP plant
Plant Location On one of LVG's mining licences
Surface Sampling Up to 35.45 g/t Au from active artisanal workings
Government Participation Statutory 16% free-carried interest formalization underway
Historical Drilling 50,000+ metres on the project to date
003 / Recent Catalysts

Five months. Six inflection points. From exploration to construction-ready.

April
23

Binding term sheet — US$25M Monetary Metals gold loan + $3M convertible.

Binding term sheet for a non-dilutive gold loan facility worth up to US$25 million from Monetary Metals, backed by up to 6,000 ounces of gold and repaid in gold ounces — scaling naturally with output. Alongside, a fully committed $3.0M convertible debenture led by a long-term major shareholder (5.0% annual interest, $0.31 conversion, half-warrants at $0.40). Together: near-term working capital and a funded path to production at Imwelo.

Funding · Non-Dilutive
March
25

Tembo: Government participation process formally initiated.

Tanzanian subsidiary received formal notice from the Mining Commission initiating implementation of the Government of Tanzania's statutory 16% non-dilutable free-carried interest in the Tembo mining licences — a standard regulatory milestone for projects advancing toward development. Concurrently, advanced-stage binding negotiations underway with Nyati Resources to support toll milling at Tembo.

Regulatory · Tembo
March
18

Imwelo: ~96–97% gold recovery, free-milling metallurgy confirmed.

Metallurgical testwork on Area C drill core samples completed by Nesch Mintec Tanzania Ltd. (independent laboratory) confirmed up to ~96–97% gold recovery using conventional gravity concentration and cyanide leaching. ~84% directly cyanide-leachable; ~42–47% gravity-recoverable component. Results consistent with 2013, 2014, and 2017 programs — significantly de-risking the processing route.

Technical · Imwelo
February
05

Imwelo Area C drill program — 11.88 g/t Au over 1.33m, pit expansion confirmed.

Completion of drilling and receipt of all analytical results from the Area C drill program at the fully-permitted Imwelo Project. Highlights include 11.88 g/t Au over 1.33m (including 68.74 g/t over 0.22m), 9.31 g/t Au over 2.45m, and 11.19 g/t Au over 0.90m. Down-dip continuity confirmed below the current pit design; new mineralized extensions defined east and west of the planned open pit.

Drilling · Imwelo Area C
January
26

Imwelo: geotechnical and specific gravity studies completed.

Completion of field data collection for geotechnical and specific gravity studies supporting final open-pit designs at Imwelo. Studies support a consolidated single open pit design — a foundational input for mine construction and project financing engineering.

Engineering · Imwelo
December
18

Tembo: high-grade artisanal sampling — up to 35.45 g/t Au.

Grab sampling program at multiple active artisanal mining sites within the 100%-owned Tembo Project returned high-grade gold values up to 35.45 g/t Au across eight active locations. The sampling was designed to refine drill targeting ahead of the Q1 2026 close-spaced drilling program at Ngula 1 across a 300–400m strike length that has consistently returned high-grade results.

Sampling · Tembo
004 / Macro Tailwinds

Demand for new gold ounces is structural. Supply isn't keeping up.

Gold Price · January 2026 Peak
$5,500+
Per Ounce · Spot Price

Gold topped US$5,500 per ounce in January 2026 — a level that re-rates the economics of every developer in the pipeline. Producers built around AISC assumptions of US$1,500–2,000/oz now operate in a price environment that materially expands project NPV and shortens payback periods.

Central Bank Gold Buying
~850t
Tonnes Forecast for 2026

Central banks are forecast to buy roughly 850 tonnes of gold in 2026, keeping a firm institutional floor under the price. African central banks — including Uganda and Kenya — have launched their own domestic gold purchase programs, reinforcing the continent's role as both a supply source and a demand driver in the same cycle.

African Exploration Capital
$1.44B
2025 Budget · +11% YoY

Exploration budgets across Africa climbed 11% to US$1.44 billion last year, while financing for junior miners more than doubled to a near-record level. The Fraser Institute now ranks several African gold jurisdictions in the global top 35 for investment attractiveness — validation that capital-efficient operators in proven belts already see.

Global Mine Output
2026
WGC Production Decline Warning

The World Gold Council warns that global mine output is hitting a wall, with most major producers guiding 2026 production declines as old reserves drain faster than new deposits can be permitted and built. Majors like BHP are running exploration workshops across Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, and Angola — validation that funded developers in proven belts get rewarded.

The market doesn't reward exposure to gold prices alone. It rewards developers who can actually deliver ounces into a structurally undersupplied market. That's the gap LVG is positioned to close.

005 / The Investment Case

Five reasons this is the moment.

01

The scarcity is funded developers, not gold.

Every gold lander in 2026 leads with the same macro story: prices are up, central banks are buying, supply is tight. That's all true and it's all already priced into the major producers. The actual scarcity in this market is junior developers who have permits, metallurgy, funding, processing, and alignment all in place at the same time. LVG has all five — at a sub-C$70M market cap.

5/5 Operational
Gates Cleared
02

The funding is non-dilutive and structured for output.

The US$25M Monetary Metals gold loan facility is repaid in gold ounces — not cash — so the facility scales naturally with production. The $3M convertible is led by a long-term major shareholder. Together, the structure is built to push Imwelo through construction without flooding the market with new shares. For a sub-C$70M market cap junior, non-dilutive funding of this scale is genuinely unusual.

$28M Combined Funding
Pathway
03

The geology has major-miner validation.

Imwelo sits 12 kilometres west of AngloGold Ashanti's +9M oz Geita Gold Mine — one of Africa's largest producing gold mines. Tembo is adjacent to Barrick's 20 Moz Bulyanhulu Mine. Barrick Gold holds equity in LVG. Taifa Group is a strategic partner. When the world's largest gold miners invest equity in a project and operate producing mines on the same geological trend, the resource thesis is no longer something you have to argue for from first principles.

9M+oz Geita Mine
Next Door
04

Two parallel pathways to first gold ounces.

Imwelo is the formal mine construction pathway — fully permitted, ~97% recovery confirmed, construction targeted Q2–Q3 2026, first production expected in 2027. Tembo is the toll-milling pathway — using Nyati's existing 500 tpd CIP plant on one of LVG's mining licences, with advanced-stage binding negotiations underway. Two shots on goal, two different timelines, two different capital intensities — both on the same geological trend.

2027· Imwelo First
Production Target
05

The cap-table alignment is rare for this market cap.

Management, directors, and strategic partners collectively own more than 60% of outstanding shares — an unusually high level of insider and strategic alignment for a sub-C$70M junior. Combined with Barrick's equity investment and the Taifa Group strategic partnership, the cap table looks more like a late-stage developer's than an early-stage explorer's. That alignment matters most when capital allocation decisions get hard.

60%+ Insider + Strategic
Ownership
006 / Investor Q&A

The questions analysts ask first.

Q.01Imwelo had a JORC PEA and PFS. Why isn't there a current NI 43-101 feasibility study?

Imwelo has been the subject of JORC-compliant PEA, PFS, and updated PFS work, but those foreign-code studies are not current under NI 43-101. The Company has not completed a feasibility study on Imwelo that establishes mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability under CIM Definition Standards. Any decision to commence production is therefore not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves and involves increased uncertainty and a higher risk of economic and technical failure. Risks include, without limitation, variations in grade and recovery, unexpected geotechnical or metallurgical challenges, cost overruns, funding availability, and operational, regulatory, or permitting risks. Investors should review the Company's filings on SEDAR+ for the full risk picture before sizing positions.

Q.02How does the Monetary Metals gold loan actually work — and why does "non-dilutive" matter so much for a junior?

The Monetary Metals facility is structured as a gold loan — repaid in gold ounces, not cash. That means the facility scales naturally with production output, and the Company doesn't have to issue new shares to service the debt. For a sub-C$70M market cap junior, traditional construction funding typically means either equity issuance (which dilutes existing shareholders by 30%+ for a project of this size) or high-cost senior debt with restrictive covenants. The gold loan structure avoids both. The companion $3.0M convertible debenture is led by a long-term major shareholder, with conversion at $0.31 per share and half-warrants at $0.40 — terms reflecting alignment rather than distress pricing. Combined, the two facilities create a funded path to development without flooding the market with new equity at small-cap valuations.

Q.03What does the Tembo toll-milling pathway actually look like — and when does it produce revenue?

The Tembo pathway leverages an existing 500 tonne-per-day carbon-in-pulp processing plant owned by Nyati Resources (T) Limited and located on one of LVG's mining licences. The Company is in advanced-stage binding negotiations with Nyati toward a toll-milling agreement that would let LVG process Tembo material through Nyati's existing facility — opening a route to early-stage gold production and cash flow without the capital expenditure required to build a standalone plant. The agreement remains subject to completion and customary conditions. In parallel, a close-spaced drilling program at Ngula 1 — targeting a 300–400m strike length with consistently high-grade historical and artisanal results — is intended to support mine planning and operational readiness. Revenue from any toll-milling arrangement is contingent on completion of a binding agreement, completion of confirmatory drilling, and successful permitting under Tanzania's regulatory framework.

Q.04The Tanzanian government is taking a 16% free-carried interest. What does that actually mean for shareholders?

Under Tanzanian mining law, the Government holds a statutory 16% non-dilutable free-carried interest in mining licences. This means the Government participates as a 16% equity owner in the mining project without contributing capital, and that 16% is preserved through any subsequent dilution events. The Tanzanian Mining Commission formally initiated this process for Tembo in March 2026 — a standard regulatory step that signals the project is advancing through the established framework toward development. From a shareholder perspective, this reduces the Company's effective ownership of the project from 100% to 84% at the project level, but it also represents alignment with the Tanzanian government and regulatory clarity that's often a meaningful gate for projects in African jurisdictions. Imwelo also has an agreement-in-principle with the Tanzanian government on the major issues surrounding statutory free-carried interest at that project.

Q.05What is the principal risk an investor should weigh?

LVG is a development-stage gold company with material risks identified in its public filings on SEDAR+. Those include, but are not limited to: the inherent uncertainty involved in advancing a project to production without a current NI 43-101 feasibility study establishing mineral reserves; the volatility of gold prices and LVG's common shares; the ability to successfully complete negotiations with Nyati Resources and implement toll-milling arrangements; risks associated with the Government participation processes; the dangers inherent in exploration, development, and mining activities; the uncertainty of reserve and resource estimates; not achieving development, production, or cost estimates; the ability to obtain and maintain necessary permits, consents, or authorizations; environmental regulations and compliance; foreign exchange exposure across Tanzanian operations; and country-specific risks associated with operating in East Africa. Investors should review the latest MD&A and risk factors before sizing positions.

Q.06Why is now the moment — and not in twelve months?

Three converging factors define the current window: (i) the macro is structurally favourable to gold developers — gold topped US$5,500/oz in January 2026, central banks are buying ~850 tonnes annually, the World Gold Council is openly warning of 2026 production declines, and the Fraser Institute now ranks several African gold jurisdictions in the global top 35; (ii) LVG has compressed six material catalysts into approximately five months — Tembo high-grade artisanal sampling (Dec 18), Imwelo geotechnical completion (Jan 26), Imwelo Area C drill results (Feb 5), Imwelo metallurgy ~97% recovery (Mar 18), Tembo Government participation + Nyati advanced negotiations (Mar 25), and the US$25M Monetary Metals + $3M convertible binding term sheet (Apr 23) — moving from exploration to construction-ready in a single sprint; and (iii) Imwelo construction is targeted for Q2–Q3 2026 with first production expected in 2027, putting the next 6–12 months as the period when the operational story converts from "developer with potential" to "developer in execution." Investors who wait for first gold pour to publicly hit will be paying for confirmed news rather than backing the execution that produces it.

For Investors

From fully permitted to first gold.

Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. (TSXV: LVG / OTCQB: LVGLF / FSE: E1K) trades on the TSX Venture Exchange. Investor materials, the Company's MD&A filings on SEDAR+, recent press releases, and project information are available through the Company's website.