Oriole upbeat on progress in central Cameroon

West Africa-focussed exploration company Oriole Resources updated the market on Monday, on the 3,592 square kilometre district-scale licence package in central Cameroon that was issued to its subsidiary, Oriole Cameroon, and its partner Reservoir Minerals Cameroon.

The AIM-traded firm said the licences cover Paleo-Proterozoic to Pan-African age rocks, and were “highly prospective” for orogenic-style gold mineralisation.

Following a desktop remote sensing study that identified 12 initial priority gold targets, the company’s team had been undertaking a package-wide mapping and stream sediment sampling programme.

That programme was now complete over the five easternmost licences, with results expected during the third quarter.

The board said the programme had now been paused for the rainy season, and would continue over the remaining three licences in the fourth quarter.

Oriole said the programme was now 64% complete, with 874 samples taken over Oriole Cameroon’s five licences in the east of the package.

A total of 371 samples relating to the Niambaram and Tenekou licences had been sent to Bureau Veritas for gold and multi-element analysis, and a further 503 samples had been prepared, and would be dispatched to Bureau Veritas shortly.

“We are pleased with the progress our team is making on the stream sediment sampling programme in central Cameroon, a vital first step in defining target areas by identifying river basins with associated gold anomalism,” said chief executive officer Tim Livesey.

“The speed and efficiency of the work is reflective of the well-trained nature of the teams, several of whom have worked with BRGM as part of the World Bank-funded, Cameroon-wide, prospectivity mapping and sampling programme, ‘PRECASEM'.

“The Central Licence Package holds all the indicators of a new gold district, sitting within an area of appropriate host geology, with respect to age, metamorphic grade and alteration, and importantly being cross-cut by deep seated crustal structures that are crucial for the emplacement of gold in orogenic systems.”

Livesey said the company knew from historical sampling, evidenced by more recent artisanal activity, that the licence package had the potential to host gold, so it was “eager” to see the results of the programme.

“Grassroots exploration doesn't come any simpler than this, with rapid and systematic field work allowing us to start defining and ranking targets for further investigation during the next field season.”

At 1051 BST, shares in Oriole Resources were down 2.48% at 0.49p.