Extension of Licence Tenure in Senegal

RNS Number : 3812A

Oriole Resources PLC

21 January 2020

 

Oriole Resources PLC 

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

Extension of Licence Tenure in Senegal

Oriole Resources, the AIM-quoted exploration company operating in Africa and Europe, is pleased to provide an update on its Dalafin gold project ('Dalafin') in Senegal, where IAMGOLD Corporation ('IAMGOLD') has the option to spend up to US$8 million to earn a 70 per cent. interest (announcement dated 1 March 2018).

With the exclusive exploration licence at Dalafin having met and exceeded its maximum tenure of nine years, plus a one-year special extension, the Company reports that it has been successful in applying for a new licence, now designated as Senala ('Senala' or 'the Project'), over the same coordinates as Dalafin (covering 472.5km²). The Senala licence will be governed by the new Senegalese Mining Code that will secure the tenure of the licence for up to a further 10 years (plus up to two years special extension), subject to meeting the criteria at each renewal period (initially four years, then renewable twice for three years each). New joint venture and side letter agreements have been signed with the Company's local partner, Energy & Mining Corporation S.A. ('EMC'). The terms of the agreements are the same as the previous agreements such that Senala is owned 85 per cent by Stratex West Africa Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oriole, and 15 per cent by EMC.

IAMGOLD is currently in the second year of its earn-in at the Project, having completed over 9,300 metres drilling to date at the southernmost Madina Bafé prospect (announcements dated 6 February 2019 and 5 August 2019). In addition, IAMGOLD has now completed a further 3,200 metres of air core drilling at the Saroudia prospect immediately to the north. The Oriole team look forward to reviewing and reporting on the results from this programme during Q1 2020. Planning for the 2020 programme is currently underway.

Both prospects have the potential to identify additional mine feed for the neighbouring Boto gold project, for which IAMGOLD received its mine permit last week (IAMGOLD announcement dated 13 January 2020).

Oriole Resources CEO, Tim Livesey, said: "We are delighted to have received approval for our Senala licence application and to have received support of the Senegalese Government once again. Not only does the new licence provide security of tenure for a minimum of four years, we have been able to retain the entire licence area.

"We look forward to continuing the exploration programme at Senala, in particular at the Madina Bafé and Faré prospects, which have previously delivered best drilling intersections of 9.6 metres at 16.08 grammes per tonne gold and 96 metres at 1.51 grammes per tonne gold respectively. This extensive licence area lies within a highly-endowed gold region of eastern Senegal, where there has been significant interest and M&A activity in recent months.

"We would like to thank both our partners, EMC and IAMGOLD, for their roles in progressing this renewal; it is a huge endorsement of their capabilities and professionalism. We would also like to congratulate IAMGOLD for receiving the Boto mining permit and look forward to a development decision later this year."

For further information, including a JORC Table 1 please see the Senala page of our website https://orioleresources.com/projects/senala/.

** ENDS **

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Following 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: [phone]
Tim Livesey / Bob Smeeton / Claire Bay
Blytheweigh (IR/PR Contact)	Tel: [phone]
Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Rachael Brooks
Grant Thornton UK LLP	Tel: [phone]
Samantha Harrison / Ben Roberts / Niall McDonald
WH Ireland Adrian Hadden / Darshan Patel / Lydia Zychowska	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Oriole Resources PLC is an AIM-quoted exploration company, focussed on West Africa. It is focused on early-stage exploration in Cameroon (Bibemi and Wapouzé projects) and the more advanced Senala gold project in Senegal, where IAMGOLD has the option to spend US$8m to earn a 70% interest. Year 1 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.

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