TIDMORR
RNS Number : 2734Y
Oriole Resources PLC
02 January 2024
Oriole Resources PLC
('Oriole Resources' or 'the Company' or 'the Group')
Corporate Update
Oriole Resources (AIM: ORR), the AIM-quoted gold exploration
company focussed on West Africa, is pleased to provide an update on
its activities and investments, including the Bibemi ('Bibemi') and
Mbe ('Mbe') gold projects in Cameroon (together the
'Projects').
Highlights
-- Execution of the Bibemi and Mbe Earn-In Agreements is
anticipated during January 2024. BCM International Limited ('BCM')
will earn up to a 50% interest in both Bibemi and Mbe in return for
meeting certain commitments, including payment of the outstanding
Signature Payments (US$450,000 for Bibemi and US$1 million for
Mbe), funding US$4 million in exploration expenditure at each of
the Projects plus future resource-linked success-based
payments;
-- At Bibemi, expenditure against the US$4 million funding on Bibemi has already commenced, with approximately US$72,000 received to support camp upgrades and ongoing technical studies in support of the application for an exploitation licence in 2024;
-- The Mbe Earn-In Agreement is conditional on the successful
conclusion of BCM's due-diligence review. BCM has recently
completed a three week-long site visit and collected 639 samples
which are now being prepared for analysis. Results are anticipated
in late January;
-- Due to the Mbe Earn-In Agreement, the proposed financing
previously announced on 11 April 2023 with the Canadian Investment
Bank is currently on hold pending completion of the Mbe Earn-In
Agreement;
-- During December 2023, a renewal application was submitted for
the Senala gold project ('Senala') in Senegal. Managem has
confirmed that it will not be completing any further work at Senala
under the existing option agreement, which expires on 17 February
2024. The Company is currently considering the future of the
partnership post completion of the option agreement;
-- Approval for a two-year licence extension is still awaited at
Wapouz é , where the Company requested a change in commodity focus
from gold to limestone on the basis of geological and geochemical
data (Announcement 27 September 2023). Once the renewal is granted,
the Company will look to secure an industrial mineral partner to
progress the asset.
Photo 1: Samples collected during the BCM due-diligence review
at Mbe
Oriole Resources CEO, Tim Livesey , said: " When I first
introduced the concept of exploration in Cameroon to the Oriole
team in 2018, they were quick to recognise the potential and to
support the strategy of developing our focus on this new frontier
for gold exploration.
"Since 2018, the team's diligent work has now paid off, with
successive exploration gains at Bibemi and throughout our Central
Licence Package.
"With our efforts to attract a project-level partner for two of
our properties nearing completion, we hope to see rapid and
successful progress in 2024, with the expansion and enhancement of
the Resource at Bibemi, and advancement of the definition of a new
gold district within the Central Licence Package, starting with the
Mbe project.
"Of course, our focus has not dropped on progressing other
opportunities that may add value to the Company and, as such, we
continue to progress the Wapouzé licence to a stage of potential
farm out as a source of industrial minerals for the cement industry
in the Region.
"At Senala in Senegal, Managem is considering its next steps as
it reaches the end of the second option period, after which its
equity position will be confirmed and the possibility of project
advancement together as partners, or sale of the asset, can be
considered.
"In Turkey, our legacy royalty asset, Muratdere, continues to
advance through the permitting stage, moving ever closer to a
realisation of value. On several other fronts in Turkey, we
continue to seek value from our debtors through ongoing court
proceedings.
"In short, 2023 was a year of growth-building for Oriole, with
significant new partnerships already starting to deliver value in
our key projects in Senegal and Cameroon.
"Whilst we prepare to welcome BCM officially as our new partner,
we still retain control of significant landholdings in Cameroon, a
new frontier for gold exploration, and have several additional
routes to value that we are working hard to unlock for our
shareholders."
Further Details
During 2023, the Board focused its efforts on bringing-in
project level funding to progress its assets and on 20 November
2023, the Company signed two Heads of Terms with BCM , a
well-respected mining and civil contractor, related to earn-ins by
BCM on the Company's Bibemi (92.8%-owned) and Mbe (90%-owned) gold
projects, respectively.
The Company today reports that drafting of the definitive Bibemi
and Mbe Earn-In Agreements is progressing well and it is now
anticipated that they will be finalised during January 2024.
Execution of these Earn-In Agreements will secure up to US$4
million in exploration expenditure for each Project in addition to
Signature Payments and JORC resource linked success-based payments
(Announcement 20 November 2023).
At the Bibemi project in northern Cameroon, under the terms of
the draft Bibemi Earn-In Agreement, BCM will pay Oriole US$450,000
(being the US$500,000 Signature Payment less the US$50,000 deposit
already paid). Expenditure against the US$4m funding has already
commenced, with approximately US$72,000 already received to support
camp upgrades and ongoing technical studies in support of the
application for an exploitation licence in 2024. It is anticipated
that drilling will resume at Bibemi in Q1-2024, with a strong focus
on expanding the resource inventory at the Bakassi Zone 1 prospect,
where the Company has already announced a maiden Mineral Resource
Estimate of 305,000 ounces ('oz') grading 2.19 grammes per tonne
('g/t') gold ('Au') in the JORC Inferred category, within the limit
of a US$1,800/oz gold price pit shell, and an additional JORC
Exploration Target of between 1.5 and 2.2 million tonnes at grades
ranging from 1.10 to 2.10 g/t for between 53,000 and 148,000 oz of
Au (announcement dated 12 December 2022). Further details on the
planned drilling programme will be announced in due course, subject
to execution of the Bibemi Earn-In Agreement.
At Mbe, a 312km(2) licence located within the broader 2,266km(2)
Eastern CLP package of contiguous gold-focussed licences in central
Cameroon ('Eastern CLP' or the 'Licence Package'), the Company has
identified a 3km-long zone of high-grade gold mineralisation with
results of up to 134.10 g/t Au from surface samples and artisanal
workings (announcements dated 30 January 2023, 27 February 2023 and
21 June 2023).
Receipt of the US$1 million Signature Payment, and the Mbe
Earn-In Agreement, is conditional on the successful outcome of a
due diligence review by BCM, ending no later than 31 January 2024.
To date, BCM has completed (at its cost) a three-week long site
visit to Mbe and has collected 639 samples weighing 2-5 kilograms
each over the 3km-long zone. These samples will now be sent for
analysis (together with 68 QAQC samples, for a total 707 samples)
at the Intertek laboratory in Ghana, predominantly for Fire Assay
analysis but also for some preliminary metallurgical testwork
(bottle-roll leach test) to ascertain the recoverability of the
gold. Results are expected in late-January.
Photo 2 (Left): BCM's geological consultant, Dr Bob Griffis, and
Oriole's Exploration Manager for Cameroon, Abdoul Mbodji,
discussing the geology of the Mbe gold system
Photo 3 (Right): Sample collection during the BCM due-diligence
review at Mbe
Meanwhile, the Board continues to advance exploration, and in
parallel seek project-level investment partners, on the remaining
four licences in the Eastern CLP. The proposed financing previously
announced on 11 April 2023 with the Canadian Investment Bank will
look to be restructured. It continues to show an interest in the
Licence package and is considering its position accordingly. A
further update will be provided on this in due course. The Company
also continues to engage with parties interested in the lithium
anomalism previously identified within the Ndom licence (also part
of the Eastern CLP) and the adjacent Gamboukou licence.
At the Wapouzé project , located 20km north of Bibemi, t he
Company submitted a formal request earlier this year for a change
of permitted substance from gold to industrial minerals
(Announcement dated 27 September 2023). This, and a renewal of the
licence for a further two-year period, is awaited. Once received,
the Company will look to secure an industrial minerals partner to
develop the Wapouzé project through to exploitation on an expedited
basis. Oriole is ultimately looking to achieve a royalty-based
payment, likely based on the volume of material extracted, which
would provide in-country revenue that can be redirected towards its
gold and lithium-based exploration work at Bibemi and the Eastern
CLP licences.
At Senala, a r enewal application has been submitted for a
further three-year term. Having originally intended to complete a
2,000m drilling programme at the Faré prospect during Q4-2023,
Managem has confirmed that it will not be completing any further
work at Senala under the existing Option Agreement, which expires
on 17 February 2024. Accordingly, and subject to a final review of
the accounts at that time, it is likely that Managem's resultant
interest in the project will be approximately 60% (based on
expenditure to date) under the option agreement. Managem retains
the right to take its interest to the maximum of 70% under the
option agreement by making a cash payment to Oriole directly which
is equivalent to any shortfall in exploration expenditure
(currently estimated to be US$2.3 million. The Company is
considering its next steps, post completion of the option
agreement, which includes, but is not limited to, a joint-venture
partnership with Managem or a sale of its interest in Senala.
In Turkey, the Company's former Muratdere project, in which it
still holds a 1.2% net smelter returns royalty, continues to
advance through the permitting stage. The Board also continues to
seek value from its other legacy assets, where ongoing court
proceedings are continuing to make progress against third party
debtors.
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, and that the material assumptions
and technical parameters that underpin the Bibemi Mineral Resource
Estimate continue to apply.
** 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. The
Company is currently working towards the completion of two earn-in
agreements with BCM International Limited ('BCM') to fast track the
Bibemi project and the Mbe project (part of the CLP), with BCM
committing to signature payments, US$4 million exploration spend
and resource-based success payments at each project in return for
up to 50% ownership.
At the more advanced Senala gold project in Senegal, AGEM
Senegal Exploration Suarl ('AGEM'), a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Managem Group, 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 17 February 2024 to
earn an additional 19% interest in the licence. 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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