Loncor Gold Inc. ("Loncor" or the "Company") (TSX: LN) (OTCQX: LONCF) (FSE: LO51) is pleased to announce that it has applied for an Exploitation Permit ("Mining Permit") for the potential development of the Company's 1.164 million ounce Makapela gold resource found within the Ngayu Greenstone Gold Belt in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the "DRC"). Makapela has an indicated mineral resource of 614,200 ounces of gold (2.20 million tonnes grading 8.66 g/t Au) and an inferred mineral resource of 549,600 ounces of gold (3.22 million tonnes grading 5.30 g/t Au) at a 2.75 g/t Au cut-off. The Makapela Project is owned 100% by Loncor and is located approximately 50 kilometres from its flagship 3.66 million ounce Adumbi deposit which already has a Mining Permit. The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the Adumbi deposit, the results of which were announced by Loncor in December 2021, did not include the Makapela deposit. See the Figure below which shows the location of the Makapela and Adumbi deposits, as well as Loncor's other gold properties, within the Ngayu Greenstone Belt.

Commenting on this latest development, Loncor Chief Executive Officer John Barker said: "Makapela represents a high-grade opportunity either as a potential feed source for a future gold operation at Adumbi, or as an independent stand-alone high-grade project. The deposit remains open at depth, along strike, plus has a number of parallel zones that require further investigation. Within close proximity, there are a number of other deposits such as Mokepa and Mongaliema that historically have been drilled and could hold the potential of future ore feed for Makapela.

The award of a Mining Permit at Makapela would create a second avenue to release value held within our deposits, and the Company will continue to analyse both practical and corporate solutions to maximise the value attributed to all of Loncor's assets."

The Makapela mineralization is hosted by a sequence of steeply-dipping basaltic volcanics containing thin BIF (banded ironstone formation) units. A total of 83 core holes have been drilled at Makapela with several significant drill intersections including 7.19 metres grading 64 g/t Au, 4.28 metres at 32.6 g/t Au, 3.47 metres grading 24.9 g/t Au, 4.09 metres at 21.7 g/t Au and 4.35 metres grading 17.5 g/t Au.

There are two principal, subvertical mineralized units at Makapela: (a) Reef 1, a quartz vein emplaced into a shear zone which crosscuts the basalt sequence at an acute angle and has an average true width and grade of 2.15 metres @ 11.15 g/t Au, and has been drilled over a strike of 480 metres and to a maximum vertical depth of 480 metres; and (b) Reef 2, an assemblage of brecciated quartz within a sheared BIF unit over a strike of at least 3 kilometres. The best Reef 2 mineralization occurs over a strike of 480 metres, where it has an average true width and grade of 3.52 metres @ 8.44 g/t Au. Good potential exists for locating additional blind gold mineralization along well-defined structures over an aggregate strike of over 5 kilometres.

Loncor is a Canadian gold exploration company focussed on the Ngayu Greenstone Gold Belt in the northeast of the DRC. The Loncor team has over two decades of experience of operating in the DRC. Loncor's growing resource base in the Ngayu Belt currently comprises the Imbo and Makapela Projects. At the Imbo Project, the Adumbi deposit holds an indicated mineral resource of 1.88 million ounces of gold (28.185 million tonnes grading 2.08 g/t gold), and the Adumbi deposit and two neighbouring deposits hold an inferred mineral resource of 2.090 million ounces of gold (22.508 million tonnes grading 2.89 g/t Au), with 84.68% of these resources being attributable to Loncor. Following a drilling program carried out by the Company at the Adumbi deposit in 2020 and 2021, the Company completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") of the Adumbi deposit and announced the results of the PEA in December 2021. The Makapela Project (which is 100%-owned by Loncor and is located approximately 50 kilometres from the Imbo Project) has an indicated mineral resource of 614,200 ounces of gold (2.20 million tonnes grading 8.66 g/t Au) and an inferred mineral resource of 549,600 ounces of gold (3.22 million tonnes grading 5.30 g/t Au).

Additional information with respect to Loncor and its projects can be found on Loncor's website at www.loncor.com

Qualified Person
Peter N. Cowley, who is President of Loncor and a "qualified person" as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

Technical Reports
Additional information with respect to the Company's Adumbi deposit (and other properties of the Company within its Imbo Project) is contained in the technical report of New SENET (Pty) Ltd and Minecon Resources and Services Limited dated December 15, 2021 and entitled "NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Adumbi Deposit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo". A copy of the said report can be obtained from SEDAR at www.sedar.comand EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Additional information with respect to the Company's Makapela Project, and certain other properties of the Company in the Ngayu gold belt, is contained in the technical report of Venmyn Rand (Pty) Ltd dated May 29, 2012 and entitled "Updated National Instrument 43-101 Independent Technical Report on the Ngayu Gold Project, Orientale Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo". A copy of the said report can be obtained from SEDAR at www.sedar.com and EDGAR at www.sec.gov.