Senala Joint Venture Update

RNS Number : 6741I

Oriole Resources PLC

16 August 2021

 

Oriole Resources PLC 

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

Senala Joint Venture Update -

Year 4 diamond drilling results deliver up to 70 metres grading 1.46 g/t Au

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). IAMGOLD is currently in Year 4 of that earn-in.

On 29 July 2021, the Company announced that IAMGOLD had completed its Phase 1 drilling programme at the Faré prospect ('Faré') for 689.50 metres ('m') diamond drilling in two holes and 4,854m reverse circulation ('RC') drilling in 42 holes. The Phase 2 programme had also been partially completed at the Madina Bafé prospect ('Madina Bafé') for a further 493m diamond drilling in three holes and 3,111m of a planned 5,000m RC drilling.

The Company today reports full diamond drilling results for Faré and Madina Bafé, with best results of up to 70.00m grading 1.46 grammes per tonne ('g/t') gold ('Au') and 10.00m grading 1.69 g/t Au respectively. Results for 38 holes from the RC programme at Faré have also been received and the Company is currently undertaking its usual validation checks ahead of their release.

Summary

· Phase 1 diamond drilling results received for the Faré prospect, targeting existing mineralisation previously drilled at the Faré South anomaly. Best intersections (>0.3 g/t Au) include:

FADD21-031-C

o  70.00m grading 1.46 g/t Au from 1.00m, including 31.00m grading 2.72 g/t Au from 17.00m

o  6.15m grading 1.55 g/t Au from 86.10m

o  2.43m grading 2.12 g/t Au from 99.48m

o  7.92m grading 1.26 g/t Au from 144.16m

FADD21-030

o  1.55m grading 1.09 g/t Au from 291.10m

o  2.60m grading 1.74 g/t Au from 381.40m

· The results reaffirm the presence of wide intervals of near-surface gold mineralisation, endorsing the Company's belief that Faré has the potential to host a standalone deposit. The orogenic gold system has been confirmed to continue to at least 350m below surface at Faré South and remains open at depth and along strike, as evidenced by other anomalies at the prospect.

· Results also received for 38 RC holes at the Faré North and Faré Far South anomalies. The team is currently reviewing all the data and a further announcement will be made later this month following the usual processing and validation checks.

· Phase 2 diamond drilling results received for the Madina Bafé prospect include a best intersection (>0.3 g/t Au) of 10.00m grading 1.69 g/t Au from 21.00m in MBDD21-017. The downhole interval corresponds with historic drillhole MBDD-002, which returned 9.60m grading 16.08 g/t Au from 15.10m.

· The Phase 2 RC drilling programme at Madina Bafé is ongoing:

o  3,111m of the planned 5,000 m RC drilling programme completed in 48 holes. Results are awaited;

o  Remainder of the programme to be completed in Q4 2021, after the seasonal rains.

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

· A selection of drill plans for the two prospects plus a cross section for Faré can be viewed at the following link http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6741I_1-2021-8-15.pdf

Oriole Resources CEO, Tim Livesey, said: "We are delighted to see the results from the latest exploration programmes carried out at the Senala licence by our partner IAMGOLD.

"At Faré, results from the two diamond holes drilled to test the main Faré South anomaly support previous drilling carried out by our own team between 2013 and 2014.  We hope that the information from these two confirmatory diamond intersections will take us one step closer to developing a maiden resource at Faré South which, based on the wide zones of near-surface gold mineralisation, we believe would lend itself well to open pit mining. Of note, this mineralisation is open at depth.

"At Faré North and Faré Far South, there are two additional anomalies within the c.6.5km Faré trend, we look forward to sharing the results of the recent RC drilling programme shortly. These RC holes were targeting evidence of gold mineralisation identified previously by our own field work and by IAMGOLD's air core drilling in 2020.

"Continued positive results from Faré reconfirms our belief that this prospect, with its three distinct, yet neighbouring zones of mineralisation, has the opportunity to host a stand-alone resource and ultimately the potential to host a mine development.

"These initial diamond drill results from the ongoing programme at Madina Bafé also provide encouragement for the potential of that prospect to host a satellite deposit for the nearby Boto mine development project. 

"We look forward to sharing the remaining results from the Year 4 programme as they become available."

Further Details

Under the terms of an Option Agreement on the 472.50km² Senala licence, IAMGOLD is currently in Year 4 of its investment period with a planned exploration budget of at least US$1.672 million (announcement dated 29 March 2021). In July, the Company reported that IAMGOLD had completed Phase 1 of its Year 4 programme at the northernmost Faré prospect, where the Company has previously defined anomalous mineralisation over a strike length in excess of 6km (announcements dated 4 December 2012 and 6 June 2016), and was significantly advanced on its Phase 2 programme at the Madina Bafé prospect, located c. 40km to the south.

The Phase 1 programme at Faré included 689.50m diamond drilling in two holes, planned to test the depth extension of the main mineralised zone at Faré South, where historic drilling delivered best intersections of 20.00m grading 31.13 g/t Au including 10.00m grading 60.98 g/t Au from RC drilling and 59.60m grading 2.20 g/t Au and 49.50m grading 1.75 g/t Au from diamond drilling (announcement dated 29 July 2021).

The results reported today confirm that the orogenic gold system at Faré continues to at least 350m below surface and remains open at depth. The widest zones of mineralisation, associated with quartz-tourmaline veining and albite alteration within intercalated diorite, granodiorite and metasedimentary units, were returned from the near-surface oxide zone, with a best intersection of 70.00m grading 1.46 g/t Au including 31.00m grading 2.72 g/t Au. This has significant and positive implications for the future development of an economic resource at the prospect and supports the Company's view that Faré has the potential to host a standalone deposit. Full results are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Significant intersections (>0.3 g/t Au) from Year 4 diamond drilling at Faré South

Hole ID	Azimuth (°)	Inclination (°)	From (m)	To (m)	Au (ppm)	Au Interval*
FADD21-030	292	-65	291.10	292.65	1.09	1.55m @ 1.09 g/t
and			337.00	338.00	0.34	1.00m @ 0.34 g/t
and			370.90	375.00	0.50	4.10m @ 0.50 g/t
and			381.40	384.00	1.74	2.60m @ 1.74 g/t
FADD21-031C	300	-51	1.00	71.00	1.46	70.00m @ 1.46 g/t
including			17.00	48.00	2.72	31.00m @ 2.72 g/t
including			68.00	69.00	1.42	1.00m @ 1.42 g/t
including			70.00	71.00	1.56	1.00m @ 1.56 g/t
and			76.16	103.35	0.85	27.19m @ 0.85 g/t
including			76.16	77.62	1.17	1.46m @ 1.17 g/t
and			86.10	92.25	1.55	6.15m @ 1.55 g/t
including			99.48	101.91	2.12	2.43m @ 2.12 g/t
and			108.72	113.52	0.47	4.80m @ 0.47 g/t
and			144.16	152.08	1.26	7.92m @ 1.26 g/t

* Intervals greater than 1m in wide, calculated using a 0.3 g/t Au cut-off and no more than 5m consecutive (50% total) internal dilution. True widths are approximately 78% (for holes inclined -51 degrees) to 91% (for holes inclined -65 degrees) of the reported downhole interval.

The Phase 1 programme also comprised a further 4,854 m RC drilling in 42 holes that were focused on testing the system along strike at Faré North and Faré Far South. Results for 38 holes have now been received and the team is currently reviewing the data and undertaking its usual validation checks ahead of a further announcement later this month.

Phase 2 of the Year 4 programme has focussed on 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 a best intersection of 9.60m grading 16.08 g/t Au from 15.10m in hole MBDD-002 (announcement dated 16 July 2014).

The results reported today relate to 493m diamond drilling in three holes and have delivered a best intersection of 10.00m grading 1.69 g/t Au from 21.00m in hole MBDD21-017. This hole was collared to twin MBDD-002 and so has successfully intersected a similar width of mineralisation albeit at a lower grade. Similar to Faré, lithologies observed within the diamond holes mainly comprise diorite/microdiorite, andesite and granodiorite with thin intercalations of metasediment. The alteration assemblage is dominated by albite-hematite-tourmaline-sericite+/-pyrite and a network of strongly fractured quartz-tourmaline-pyrite veins up to 3m wide are observed within the granodiorite. Full results are shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Significant intersections (>0.3 g/t Au) from Year 4 diamond drilling at Madina Bafé

Hole ID	Azimuth (°)	Inclination (°)	From (m)	To (m)	Au (ppm)	Au Interval*
MBDD21-017	130	-51	10.00	15.00	0.31	5.00m @ 0.31 g/t
and			21.00	31.00	1.69	10.00m @ 1.69 g/t
MBDD21-018	130	-51	No significant intersections
MBDD21-019	130	-51	No significant intersections

* Intervals greater than 1m in wide, calculated using a 0.3 g/t Au cut-off and no more than 5m consecutive (50% total) internal dilution. True widths are approximately 78% of the reported downhole interval.

Phase 2 RC drilling is still underway at Madina Bafé, with 3,111m (in 48 holes) of a planned 5,000m programme completed to date (announcement dated 29 July 2021). Results for these holes are awaited and IAMGOLD anticipates restarting the programme in October, following the seasonal rains.

Importantly, Madina Bafé is located within 10km distance of IAMGOLD's Boto 2.5Moz mine development project and so any resource identification at this prospect could provide mine-truckable feed. According to its recent Q2 update, IAMGOLD has already spent approximately 50% of its planned 2021 budget of c.US$55 million on de-risking the investment decision at Boto. A construction decision is anticipated later this year.

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 (Executive Director, Exploration & 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. The Company also 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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