TIDMORR
RNS Number : 7392N
Oriole Resources PLC
27 September 2023
Oriole Resources PLC
('Oriole Resources' or 'the Company' or 'the Group')
Wapouzé Project Update, Cameroon
Oriole Resources (AIM: ORR), the AIM-quoted exploration company
focussed on West Africa, is pleased to provide an exploration
update for its 90%-owned Wapouzé project ('Wapouzé' or 'the
Project') in northern Cameroon.
Highlights
-- A review of the historical data in 2022-2023 determined that
gold prospectivity at Wapouz é was lower than that at the Group's
nearby Bibemi project. However, it highlighted the potential for
cement-quality limestone within the licence area;
-- Thirteen out of fourteen rock chip samples from outcropping
limestone returned suitable chemistry to be classified as
high-grade carbonate material, suitable for use within the cement
industry;
-- The cement industry in Cameroon is believed to be worth in
the order of GBP700 million per year, largely supported by the
import of clinker, a raw material made from cement-quality
limestone;
-- Oriole submitted a formal request for a change of substance
at the Wapouzé licence area from gold to industrial minerals, which
has now been approved by the Ministry of Mines;
-- The licence is currently undergoing a renewal process and is
now with the Presidency for approval;
-- Once the renewal is granted, Oriole will look to secure an
industrial minerals partner to develop the Wapouz é project through
to exploitation on an expedited basis;
-- Oriole is looking to secure a royalty-based payment on the
material extracted to help provide an income stream in
Cameroon.
Oriole Resources CEO, Tim Livesey , said: " Once the team
identified the potential for cement-grade limestone deposits on the
Wapouz é licence, we shifted focus and moved to evaluate
alternative routes to deliver value, besides our primary goal of
gold exploration in Cameroon.
"With the potential to deliver feedstock for the cement industry
in this region, we hope to attract a local industry partner for
Wapouz é . By realising the alternative value from this licence, we
hope to provide ongoing funding to support our future gold
exploration programmes at both Bibemi and in the Central Licence
Package. "
Further Details
At the Wapouzé project, located 20 kilometres ('km') to the
north of the Company's more advanced Bibemi gold project, soil
sampling programmes undertaken in 2019 identified multiple
gold-in-soil anomalies within the Bataol Zone in the north-east,
including an 8km-long northeast-trending anomaly, which returned up
to 531 parts per billion ('ppb') gold ('Au') (0.53 grammes per
tonne ('g/t') Au), and a parallel 2.8km-long anomaly (Announcements
dated 18 March 2019 and 6 June 2019).
Two trenching programmes were conducted in 2021; a pilot
trenching programme of three trenches (WPT001 to WPT003) which did
not return any significant intersections (Announcement dated 6
April 2021), and a further five trenches (WPT004 to WPT008) at
regional spacing of 500 meters ('m') to 1km and totalling 2,524m.
This second phase of trenching returned best intersections of 2.00m
at 4.06 g/t Au (WPT007), 1.50m at 0.53 g/t Au and 2.00m at 0.50 g/t
Au (WPT008), and 2.00m at 0.53 g/t Au (WPT006) (Announcement dated
9 February 2022).
During 2022, the team conducted a comprehensive review of the
trenching data, and all historical data available for Wapouzé,
concluding that the project area was less prospective for gold than
Bibemi. However, the data highlighted that the large quantity of
carbonate material outcropping within the licence area, as
previously identified by geological mapping (Announcement dated 18
March 2019), could be suitable for industrial use and therefore
presented an attractive commercial opportunity for the Company.
During 2022, a series of 14 rock chip samples over carbonate
outcrops (mapped as marble and metamorphosed limestone) were
collected and analysed by lab-based X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to
assess their suitability for use in the cement industry. All
samples contained appropriate concentrations of silica ('SiO(2) ')
ranging from <0.01 percentage by weight ('wt%') to 1.58 wt%. 13
of the 14 samples returned low magnesium oxide ('MgO')
concentrations (0.40 - 0.8 wt%) and high calcium oxide ('CaO')
concentrations (54.2 - 55.3 wt%) (Table 1). 13 of the 14 samples
would therefore be classified as high-grade carbonate material
suitable for use in cement production. The single sample that did
not fit these criteria had high MgO and low CaO concentrations,
indicating dolomitised material which, based on ground-truthing by
the team, is believed to cover only a localised area of limited
extent.
Table 1: Summary of the XRF results for fourteen rock chips from
the Wapouze licence area
Sample type Number of samples Average Average SiO(2) Average MgO
CaO (wt%) (wt%) (wt%)
Carbonate 13 54.6 0.66* 0.66
------------------ ----------- --------------- ------------
Carbonate (partial
dolomitization) 1 32.4 1.53 19.1
------------------ ----------- --------------- ------------
* one sample returned SiO(2) < detection limit of 0.01 wt%,
value was replaced with 0.005 wt% for the average calculation
Due to the confirmation of high-grade carbonate material within
the licence area, and the gold potential being significantly lower
than at the Bibemi and the CLP projects, Oriole proceeded to apply
for a change of commodity for the Wapouzé licence. Oriole has been
informed that the change has been approved by the Ministry of
Mines; however, a wider licence renewal process is now underway and
is awaiting approval by the Secretary General of the Presidency of
Cameroon.
Once the renewal has been approved, Oriole will look to secure a
partner that will advance the project towards resource definition,
development and exploitation on an expedited basis. Oriole is
ultimately looking to achieve a royalty-based payment for the
Project, likely based upon volume of material extracted, which
would provide in-country revenue that can be redirected towards its
gold and lithium-based exploration at Bibemi and the CLP.
For further information on the Wapouzé project, including maps
and a JORC Table 1, please see the
following page of the Company's website https://orioleresources.com/projects/wapouze/ .
Competent Persons Statement
The information in this release that relates to Exploration
Results has been compiled by Claire Bay (Executive Director,
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 retained EU
law version of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the
"UK MAR") which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union
(Withdrawal) Act 2018. The information is disclosed in accordance
with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of the UK MAR. 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 Tel: +44 (0)23 8065 1649
Tim Livesey / Bob Smeeton / Claire
Bay
BlytheRay (IR/PR Contact) Tel: +44 (0)20 7138 3204
Tim Blythe / Megan Ray
Grant Thornton UK LLP Tel: +44 (0)20 7383 5100
Samantha Harrison / Ciara Donnelly
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470
Ewan Leggat / Harry Davies-Ball
Notes to Editors:
Oriole Resources PLC is an AIM-listed gold exploration company,
operating in West Africa. It is focussed on early-stage exploration
in Cameroon, where the Company has a maiden Resource of 305,000 oz
Au at 2.19g/t in the JORC Inferred category at the Bibemi project
and has identified multi-kilometre gold and lithium anomalism
within the district-scale Central Licence Package project. At the
more advanced Senala gold project in Senegal, Oriole was advised by
IAMGOLD on 26 April 2023 that AGEM Senegal Exploration Suarl
('AGEM') was now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Managem Group. As
previously announced, AGEM has earned an initial 51% beneficial
interest in the Senala Exploration Licence by spending US$4 million
and has the option to spend up to a further US$4 million by 28
February 2024 to earn an additional 19% interest in the licence. A
Reverse Circulation drilling programme is planned for Q4, 2023 as
part of AGEM's Year 6 programme at Senala. The Company also has
several interests and royalties in companies operating in East
Africa and Turkey that could deliver future cash flow.
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