Oriole agrees sale of Karaagac mining royalty

The AIM-traded firm said it had received an initial tranche of $50,000 in cash from Anadolu, with the balance contingent on the start of mine construction at the Karaağac project.

It said the sale was in line with its previously-stated strategy of asset monetisation, and followed the recent sale of its shares in Tembo Gold, which delivered net proceeds of £0.17m.

Any proceeds received through asset sales would primarily be used to help fund a drilling programme at the company's Bibemi project in Cameroon, the board said, planned for the second half of 2020, subject to ongoing developments around Covid-19.

“The sale of the legacy royalty portfolio is a part of our asset realisation strategy,” said chief financial officer Bob Smeeton.

“After extensive discussions with a number of royalty companies, an offer we received, and accepted, triggered Anadolu's right of first refusal, common to most of these arrangements, and Anadolu has taken the opportunity to exercise its right.”

Smeeton noted that, as it announced on 29 October, Anadolu owes Oriole $0.43m in outstanding success-based payments.

“Resolution of the royalty position now offers us the opportunity to pursue all available routes to recover this amount and we look forward to constructive discussions in the coming weeks.”

At 0913 BST, shares in Oriole Resources were down 5.71% at 0.36p.