Lake Victoria Gold mobilizes project manager to Imwelo site

Lake Victoria Gold Ltd. has mobilized an experienced project manager to its fully permitted Imwelo Gold Project in northwestern Tanzania. Charl Coetzee of Sutton Consulting International Limited is now on site to support the approved Tanzanian-led Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management framework. The move follows the Mining Commission's approval of the company's EPCM structure, turning a regulatory milestone into visible activity at the site.

Mr. Coetzee brings approximately 30 years of experience in the construction, commissioning, maintenance, and operation of gold and minerals-processing plants across Africa. His mandate covers field coordination, construction sequencing, contractor and supplier interfaces, and ensuring that incoming infrastructure and activity are organized in a disciplined, practical, and safety-conscious manner.

Project Execution and Partnerships

The EPCM framework designates City Engineering Company Ltd. as the primary EPCM contractor and commercial lead, with Sutton providing international technical support. Near-term workstreams at Imwelo include site clearing, access road upgrades, and construction utility installation. Phase 1 modular camp preparation and infrastructure layout are also underway, alongside procurement support and contractor interface planning.

Marc Cernovitch, President and CEO of Lake Victoria Gold, stated that having Mr. Coetzee on site is an important step in turning planning into execution. The company is advancing Imwelo in a disciplined and compliant manner, utilizing Tanzanian leadership through CECL and international technical support through Sutton.

Strategic Position and Assets

Imwelo is located west of AngloGold Ashanti's Geita Gold Mine and is fully permitted for mine construction and production. It is one of two Tanzanian assets in the Lake Victoria Gold portfolio. The other asset is the 100%-owned Tembo project, which has over fifty thousand meters of drilling and is located adjacent to Barrick's Bulyanhulu Mine.

The company has drawn validation from an equity investment by Barrick and a strategic partnership with Taifa Group. Taifa Mining, a wholly Tanzanian-owned subsidiary of Taifa Group, is the country's largest mining contractor and is set to conduct all contract mining and civil works for the Imwelo project.

Entity	Role
Charl Coetzee	Project Manager, Sutton Consulting International Limited
City Engineering Company Ltd.	Primary EPCM Contractor and Commercial Lead
Sutton Consulting International Limited	International Technical Support
Taifa Mining	Contract Mining and Civil Works

China has reached a turning point for its capital markets. For the first time, the largest domestic exchange-traded fund is no longer one that tracks equities but one that tracks gold. The Huaan Yifu Gold ETF has overtaken the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF, once the flagship vehicle for China’s benchmark stock index and a centerpiece of state-backed market support. This shift reflects a broad reallocation of Chinese savings away from an unrecovered property sector and volatile equity markets toward an asset increasingly touted as the country’s most reliable store of value.

The shift mirrors the aggressive accumulation of physical gold. China’s central bank has been an aggressive buyer, adding to its official reserves for 19 consecutive months through May. These actions indicate that the center of gravity in the bullion market continues to shift from the West to the East. Gold inventories have been leaving London, Comex warehouses and European vaults as bullion is shipped to Asia to satisfy rising regional demand.

Global market divergence

The relative scale highlights just how extraordinary China’s ETF reversal is. In the U.S., the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) has a market capitalization of approximately $675.87 billion, compared with $133.42 billion for the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD). For GLD to match SPY under current valuations, the gold fund would need to grow by more than 400%. This mid-triple-digit disparity reflects the preference for equities in American portfolios.

Metric	Value
SPY Market Cap	$675.87 billion
GLD Market Cap	$133.42 billion
Required GLD Growth	>400%

China’s crossover required a far smaller rebalancing, but its implications may be larger. It illustrates what can happen when confidence in property, stocks, and repeated government market interventions erodes simultaneously. Investors stop rotating assets and start redefining what constitutes financial security.

Asian infrastructure expansion

As Hong Kong and Singapore compete for the pole position in the new Asian order, physical metal flows into the region. This week, Hong Kong is launching the long-awaited gold clearing and settlement system through Hong Kong Precious Metals Central Clearing Company. Through the initiative, the city will transform from a passive price taker into an active participant in global price discovery.

A group of 11 major international and regional banks, including HSBC, JPMorgan, Citi, UBS, and Bank of China, will provide initial liquidity. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing is waiving fees on its U.S. dollar gold futures for a year to stimulate trading. With strong existing demand and newly minted infrastructure, Asia is increasingly dictating not only where bullion is stored but also where its price is ultimately determined.