TORONTO, July 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Loncor Gold Inc. ("Loncor" or the "Company") (TSX: "LN"; OTCQX: "LONCF”; FSE: "LO51") is pleased to announce further significant assay results from its drilling program within its 84.68%-owned Imbo Project in the eastern part of the Ngayu greenstone belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Borehole LADD017 drilled at its flagship Adumbi deposit, intersected 25.77 metres grading 6.24 grammes per tonne (g/t) gold (including 9.29 metres grading 9.68 g/t Au and 5.50 metres grading 9.75 g/t gold) while borehole LADD012 intersected 13.45 metres grading 3.63 g/t gold and borehole LADD014 intersected 11.80 metres grading 2.97 g/t gold (see Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 below).
Mineralized sections for boreholes LADD012, LADD014 and LADD017 are summarised in the table below:
| Borehole Number | From (m) | To (m) | Intersected Width (m) | Grade (g/t) Au |
| LADD012 | 784.35 | 797.80 | 13.45 | 3.63 |
| LADD012 including | 784.35 | 786.35 | 2.00 | 9.56 |
| LADD012 | 806.30 | 810.35 | 4.05 | 4.73 |
| LADD014 | 670.00 | 681.80 | 11.80 | 2.97 |
| LADD014 including | 670.00 | 673.53 | 3.53 | 6.44 |
| LADD017 | 45.55 | 62.70 | 17.15 | 1.90 |
| LADD017 | 92.68 | 118.45 | 25.77 | 6.24 |
| LADD017 including | 100.76 | 110.05 | 9.29 | 9.68 |
| LADD017 including | 112.95 | 118.45 | 5.50 | 9.75 |
Note: It is estimated that the true widths of the mineralised sections for core holes LADD012, LADD014 and LADD017 are, respectively, 86%, 78% and 71% of the intersected widths in the above table.
Regular measurements of inclination and azimuth were taken at 30 metre intervals down the hole and all the core was orientated. All intercepted grades are uncut with maximum internal dilution equal to or less than 4 metres of intersected width.
Commenting on these latest drilling results, Loncor President Peter Cowley said: “Borehole LADD017 was the first of the infill holes to upgrade the mineral resources within the shallower part of the open pit shell and gold grades were better than the previously drilled surrounding holes. Boreholes LADD012 and LADD014 were drilled on the southeast edge of the mineralization and as expected, thickness of the banded ironstone package as well as grades were less than in the central part of the Adumbi deposit. This further indicates a shallower northwest plunge to the mineralization. Our current drilling focus is to upgrade some of the shallower, inferred resource within the US$1,500 pit shell into the indicated category and to outline underground resources at depth below the 3.15 million ounce inferred resource pit shell. In this regard, the deepest hole at Adumbi, LADD016 was recently completed after intersecting a wide zone of the mineralized BIF package and is now being submitted to the independent laboratory for gold analysis.”
The gold mineralization at Adumbi is associated with a thick package (up to a maximum of 130 metres) of interbedded banded ironstone formation (BIF) and quartz carbonate and chlorite schist with higher grade sections being found in a strongly altered siliceous unit termed “Replaced Rock” (RP) where structural deformation and alteration has completely destroyed the primary host lithological fabric. Disseminated sulphide assemblages include pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite which can attain up to 20% of the total rock in places.
Quality Control and Quality Assurance re Adumbi Deposit Drill Results
Drill cores for assaying were taken at a maximum of one-metre intervals and were cut with a diamond saw, with one-half of the core placed in sealed bags by Company geologists and sent to the Company’s on-site sample preparation facility. The core samples were then crushed down to 80% passing minus 2 mm and split with one half of the sample up to 1.5 kg pulverized down to 90% passing 75 microns. Approximately 150 grams of the pulverized sample was then sent to the SGS Laboratory in Mwanza, Tanzania