Barrick, which operates the Kibali gold mine 220km to the north, is moving towards earning 65% of the 1,894sq.km project under a 2016 agreement.

The gold major had identified six key target areas at the joint venture, according to corporate presentations.

Loncor said Barrick had funded and conducted various exploration programmes since January 2016 to define drill targets which offered "the early potential of attaining Tier 1 status".

Loncor CEO Arnold Kondrat said the company believed Ngayu held the potential for further significant discoveries, similar to its Adumbi gold deposit.

Adumbi, which has a recently updated resource increasing the project's total by 49% to an inferred 2.5 million ounces, is on the Imbo project in the east of the Ngayu belt - outside the Barrick joint venture and 76.29% owned by Loncor.

The company said fieldwork was underway at the Imbo East prospect and two new targets had been generated at the project.

Dual-listed Resolute Mining owns 26% of Loncor and Newmont 7%, according to a May presentation.

Loncor reported having cash and cash equivalents of US$231,300 and a working capital deficit of $723,605 at March 31.

Its shares (TSX: LN) were trading below C20c 12 months ago and shot up to 88c in February.

They gained 6.9% yesterday to close at 62c, capitalising it at $63.3 million (US$46.8 million).

Barrick (TSX: ABX) closed 3.6% higher to $34.45, valuing it at $61.2 billion (US$45.2 billion).