Year 4 Drilling Programmes Underway at Faré

RNS Number : 2979Y

Oriole Resources PLC

12 May 2021

 

Oriole Resources PLC 

('Oriole Resources' or 'the Company' or 'the Group')

Senala Joint Venture Update -

Year 4 Drilling Programmes Underway at Faré

Oriole Resources PLC (AIM: ORR), the AIM-quoted exploration company focussed on West Africa, is pleased to provide an update on its Senala project ('Senala' or the 'Project') in Senegal, where joint venture partner IAMGOLD Corporation ('IAMGOLD') has the option to spend up to US$8 million to earn a 70% interest (announcement dated 1 March 2018).

Further to the announcement on 23 March 2021, the Company is pleased to report that IAMGOLD has now commenced its Year 4 exploration programme at Senala, which will comprise a planned c. 11,000 metres of reverse circulation ('RC') and diamond drilling at the Faré and Madina Bafé prospects. Results from the first phase ('Phase 1') of the exploration programme, focussed on the Faré prospect, are anticipated in Q3-2021.

Summary

· IAMGOLD has commenced its Year 4 exploration programme at Senala;

· Phase 1 of the programme is focussed on the northernmost Faré prospect, which the Company believes has the potential to be a standalone deposit:

o  Diamond drilling has been completed for 609 metres ('m') in 2 holes;

o  A planned 5,000 m of RC drilling for 42 holes is now underway to focus on the strongest anomalies (up to 2.58 grammes per tonne ('g/t') gold ('Au')) identified from recent aircore ('AC') drilling - three fences at Faré North sub-prospect and two fences at Faré Far South sub-prospect;

o  Completion of both programmes is anticipated by the end of Q2-2021, with results anticipated in Q3-2021.

· IAMGOLD to direct second phase of the funding ('Phase 2') into drilling the southernmost Madina Bafé prospect, located within 10 kilometres ('km') distance of IAMGOLD's Boto 2.5 million ounce ('Moz') mine development project:

o  5,000 m of RC drilling in 42 holes planned to test a northeast corridor that has recently been subject to artisanal mining;

o  Opening of RC fence lines and drill pad construction is currently underway;

o  Drilling is scheduled to commence next month;

o  IAMGOLD has also planned 400 m diamond drilling in three holes to test a mineralised shear corridor.

· Subject to completion of the Year 4 expenditure plan, IAMGOLD will have the right to acquire a 51% interest in the Project.

Oriole Resources CEO, Tim Livesey, said: "We are very pleased to see the drill programme underway at Faré, where we had previously had our own successful intersections including 20 m grading 31.13 g/t Au and 59.60 m grading 2.20 g/t Au.  We look forward to seeing the results in due course on this potential standalone mine target area. 

"In addition to Far é , we take IAMGOLD's confirmation of advanced preparation for the drilling programme at Madina Bafé as a positive sign. This programme will follow on from earlier work carried out there by IAMGOLD in 2018/19.  

"Oriole remains free carried throughout this work, which allows our funds to be dedicated to our own exploration in Cameroon, where our maiden drill programme at Bibemi has already shown great promise, and our extensive stream sediment sampling programme on the district-scale Central Licence Package is well underway.  

"As announced in its recent quarterly webcast, IAMGOLD continues to advance the neighbouring Boto mine development target, with a planned spend of US$60 million this year to fund detailed engineering and infrastructure development, including a permanent camp, year-round access road and an airstrip. We continue to engage proactively with the IAMGOLD team and wish them success in their exploration efforts." 

Further Details

In March, the Company reported that, under the terms of an Option Agreement on Senala, IAMGOLD had entered Year 4 of its investment period at the Project and had proposed an exploration programme that would enable it to meet its contractual commitment of US$1.672 million before 28 February 2022 (announcement dated 23 March 2021).

The Company today reports that Phase 1 of that programme has now commenced at the northernmost Faré prospect, where the Company has previously defined anomalous mineralisation over a strike length in excess of 6 km (announcements dated 4 December 2012 and 6 June 2016) and where previous drilling has delivered best intersections of 20 m grading 31.13 g/t Au including 10 m grading 60.98 g/t Au from RC drilling and 59.60 m grading 2.20 g/t Au and 49.50m grading 1.75 g/t Au from diamond drilling (announcement dated 9 November 2020).

Diamond drilling commenced on 19 April, with 609 m now complete in two holes. The holes were planned to test the depth extension of the main mineralised zone at Faré South as defined by the historic drilling. A planned 5,000 m of RC drilling in 42 holes has now commenced which will follow-up on the strongest anomalies (up to 2.58 g/t Au) identified by a recent AC drilling programme (announcement dated 11 March 2021). As previously reported, a total of three RC fences have been planned at the Faré North sub-prospect; two to the northeast and one to the southwest of previous drilling by the Company. The planned holes will test strongly anomalous coincident gold and pathfinder (W, As and Bi) anomalies. A further two fences are planned for the Faré Far South sub-prospect, where the AC drilling returned a strong and coherent gold anomaly coincident.

Both programmes are scheduled for completion before the end of Q2-2021, with results anticipated in Q3-2021.

Phase 2 of the Year 4 programme will be focussed on re-testing a northeast-trending structural corridor at the southernmost Madina Bafé prospect, where recent artisanal mining activity has been identified in the immediate vicinity of the Company's previous drilling that returned best grades of up to 9.60 m grading 16.08 g/t Au (announcement dated 16 July 2014). The Year 4 programme comprises a planned 5,000 m of RC drilling and 400 m of diamond drilling. Opening of the RC fence lines and drill pad construction is currently underway, with drilling scheduled to commence next month. Importantly, the prospect is located within 10km distance of IAMGOLD's Boto 2.5 Moz mine development project, where c.US$60 million of de-risking activities are planned for 2021, pending a construction decision.

Subject to completion of the Year 4 expenditure plan, IAMGOLD will have the right to acquire a 51% interest in the Project and will thereafter need to spend a further US$4 million over two years to earn a 70% interest.

For further information, including an updated JORC Table 1, please see the Senala page on the Company's website   https://orioleresources.com/projects/senala/ .

Competent Persons Statement  

The information in this release that relates to Exploration Results has been compiled by Claire Bay (VP Exploration and Business Development). Claire Bay (MGeol, CGeol) is a Competent Person as defined in the JORC code and takes responsibility for the release of this information. Claire has reviewed the information in this announcement and confirms that she is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information reproduced here.

** ENDS **

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU No. 596/2014) which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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

Oriole Resources PLC Tim Livesey / Bob Smeeton / Claire Bay	Tel: [phone]
Blytheweigh (IR/PR contact) Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Rachael Brooks	Tel: [phone]
Grant Thornton UK LLP Samantha Harrison / George Grainger	Tel: [phone]
Shard Capital Partners LLP Damon Heath / Erik Woolgar / Isabella Pierre	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Oriole Resources PLC is an AIM-listed exploration company, operating West Africa. It is focused on early-stage exploration in Cameroon (Bibemi, Wapouzé and Central Cameroon projects) and the more advanced Senala gold project in Senegal, where IAMGOLD has the option to spend US$8 million to earn a 70% interest. Year two commitments have been met at all three projects. The Company has several interests and royalties in companies operating throughout Africa and Turkey that could deliver future cash flow, and it continues to assess new opportunities in both regions.

 

END

 

 

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