IAMGOLD to Commence Year 2 Earn-In at Dalafin

RNS Number : 3414R

Oriole Resources PLC

28 February 2019

 

Oriole Resources PLC 

('Oriole Resources' or 'the Company')

IAMGOLD to Commence Year 2 Earn-In at Dalafin

Oriole Resources, the AIM-quoted exploration company operating in Africa and Europe, is pleased to provide an exploration update on its 85%-owned Dalafin project in the Kédougou-Kéniéba inlier of eastern Senegal, where IAMGOLD Corporation ('IAMGOLD') has the option to spend up to US$8M to earn a 70% interest (announcement dated 1 March 2018). In its latest report to the Company, IAMGOLD has confirmed that it will restart exploration at the Dalafin gold project ('Dalafin' or the 'Project') next month, following the recently announced Q4-2018 drilling results which delivered a best intersection of 8m @ 2.56 g/t Au (announcement dated 6 February 2019). The programme will continue to explore Madina Bafé, as well as moving further north to the Saroudia prospect.      

Highlights:

·    IAMGOLD to commence US$1m Year 2 earn-in on Dalafin licence next month;

·    Programme to continue to focus on southernmost Madina Bafé prospect, including:

o  5,000m regional aircore ('AC') drilling to extend 2018 campaign to the north;

o  4,000m reverse circulation ('RC') drilling to follow-up on best results from the 2018 drilling programmes.

·    Work to be initiated on Saroudia prospect, c.2km to the NW:

o  2,500m regional AC drilling to explore for NE-structures located beneath transported laterites;

o  Subsequent 1,600m RC drilling to follow-up on best AC results.

·    Both targets are located within 20km of IAMGOLD's 2.49 Moz Boto gold project;

·    First results anticipated late Q2/ Q3-2019.

Oriole Resources CEO, Tim Livesey, said: "We are delighted to announce that IAMGOLD has committed to its year two earn-in on the Dalafin licence following an initial successful drilling programme last year.

The exploration programme outlined will continue to build on the exciting results already delivered at the Madina Bafé prospect with additional drilling planned for the Saroudia prospect to the North-West. 

Our partnership with IAMGOLD at Dalafin has already contributed significantly to the increasing value of Oriole's wider portfolio, and we look forward to updating the market on this stage of the drilling programme later on in the year."

Further details

In Q4-2018, IAMGOLD completed an initial phase of work at the southernmost Madina Bafé prospect, comprising AC drilling - which outlined multiple gold-in-soil anomalies (>20ppb Au) including a c.1.5km WNW-trending anomaly in the south-east (announcement dated 25 October 2018) - and a follow-up c.3,500m RC and diamond programme which confirmed the depth-continuity of mineralisation and delivered a best intersection of 8 m at 2.56 g/t Au (announcement dated 6 February 2019).

In its latest report to the Company, IAMGOLD has confirmed that it will commence its Year 2 earn-in on the Project next month. The US$1m exploration programme will continue to focus on Madina Bafé and will include 5,000m regional AC drilling, to extend northwards the previous 2018 campaign, and 4,000m RC drilling to follow-up on best results from the 2018 AC, RC and DD programmes.

The AC programme will comprise 1,267 vertical holes, drilled on a 400m x 50m spacing. As per the initial 2018 AC drilling, a bottom of hole sample (upper saprolite or mottled zone) will be taken per hole to test the bedrock geochemistry and samples will be assayed for low-level gold and multi-elements.

A subsequent 4,000m RC programme is planned to follow-up on key anomalous trends defined by this AC drilling. Eight holes will also be drilled to test an artisanal site in the northeast of the prospect which was identified during AC drill pad construction and returned 4.11 g/t Au, 1.2 g/t Au and 0.59 g/t Au from grab samples of sheared quartz-tourmaline veins within a granite-granodiorite contact (announcement dated 6 February 2019). Subject to ongoing results, the program may be modified or expanded her test key best results from the 2018 diamond drilling, which confirmed zones of orogenic-style mineralisation and highlighted the potential for higher-grade ore shoots.

IAMGOLD will also step north to test the Saroudia prospect, located c.2km NW of Madina Bafé. An initial 2,500m AC drilling programme will be completed for 654 holes on a 400m x 50m spacing to test the most prospective area as defined previously by Oriole (announcements dated 25 July 2013 and 19 February 2014). All the holes will be vertical with one sample collected per hole to test the bedrock geochemistry of the upper saprolite or mottled zone. Samples will be assayed for low-level gold and multi-elements. Subject to results of the AC drilling, a 1,600m RC programme is planned to follow-up on any trends identified.

First results from these programmes are anticipated late Q2/ Q3 2019.

For further information, including Madina Bafé and Saroudia drill plans and a JORC Table 1 please see the Dalafin page of our website https://orioleresources.com/projects/dalafin/.

Deal Terms

Under the terms of the Agreement, AGEM Senegal Exploration Suarl ('AGEM'), a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD, is earning-in to an initial 51% interest in the Project by expending US$4m on exploration over 4 years and has the further option to increase its interest to 70% by expending an additional US$4m over the subsequent 2 years. IAMGOLD is initially focusing on exploring the southernmost Madina Bafé and Saroudia prospects, which are within 20km of its 2.49Moz Boto gold project.

Competent Persons Statement 

The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results has been compiled by, and is based on information reviewed on behalf of the Company, by Issouf Ouedraogo (General Manager for West Africa). Issouf Ouedraogo (AusIMM) is a Competent Person as defined in the JORC code and takes responsibility for the release of this information. The exploration on the Dalafin Project was carried out by AGEM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAMGOLD. Issouf Ouedraogo has reviewed the information in this announcement and confirms that he is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information reproduced here.

** ENDS **

For further information please visit www.orioleresources.com, @OrioleResources on Twitter, or contact:

Oriole Resources PLC Tim Livesey / Bob Smeeton / Claire Bay	Tel: [phone]
Camarco (IR/PR contact) Gordon Poole / Nick Hennis	Tel: [phone]
Grant Thornton UK LLP Samantha Harrison / Ben Roberts / Niall McDonald	Tel: [phone]
Hannam & Partners Neil Passmore / Andrew Chubb	Tel: [phone]
Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd Ben Turner / James Pope / Andy Thacker	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Oriole Resources PLC is an AIM-listed exploration company, operating in Africa and Europe. It is focused on early-stage exploration in Cameroon and the more advanced Dalafin gold project in Senegal, where IAMGOLD has the option to spend US$8m to earn a 70% interest. The Company has several interests and royalties in companies operating throughout Africa and Turkey and is assessing new opportunities in both regions.

 

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