REG - Oriole Resources PLC - Bibemi Gold Increased Mineral Resource Estimate

Oriole ResourcesAnnouncement

15/05/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 7325I  Oriole Resources PLC  15 May 2025

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.

 

Oriole Resources PLC

('Oriole Resources' or the 'Company')

 

Increased Mineral Resource Estimate for the Bibemi Gold Project in Cameroon

and new Exploration Target

 

Oriole Resources PLC (AIM: ORR), the AIM quoted gold exploration company
focused on West and Central Africa, is pleased to provide an update on its 90%
owned Bibemi orogenic gold project in Cameroon (the 'Project'), including an
increased JORC Code Mineral Resource Estimate ('MRE') for the Bakassi Zone 1
(or 'BZ1') prospect and an additional JORC Exploration Target* range,
highlighting the significant upside potential of the wider licence area.

Highlights

 

 ·         Independent consultant Forge International Limited has produced an updated
           total MRE for the BZ1-MRE zone of 460,000oz of contained gold ('Au'), using a
           US$2,750/oz gold price.  This is a 23% increase on the BZ1 MRE published in
           January 2024.

 ·         The new MRE has also achieved a greater level of confidence, with 100,000oz at
           2.05 g/t Au in the Indicated and 360,000oz Au at 2.06g/t Au in the Inferred
           JORC categories.  The Indicated Resources occur as a unified block in the
           centre of the deposit and could provide a suitable location for a starter pit
           if mined.

 ·         An additional JORC Exploration Target* range of 3 to 5 million tonnes at 1.50
           to 2.50g/t Au for 145,000oz to 400,000oz contained Au has been estimated for
           the Bakassi Zone 1, Bakassi Zone 2, Lawa East and Lawa West prospects,
           highlighting the significant upside potential of the wider licence area.

 ·         A separate, small-scale study was undertaken which flagged possible
           underreporting of gold grades (determined by fire assaying) for samples over
           10g/t Au, due to gold-telluride mineralogy.  Re-assaying samples using photon
           assay could deliver additional resource upside.

 ·         A detailed, independent assessment of the mineralogy of two representative
           samples from the centre of the BZ1-MRE zone has confirmed that the ore tested
           exhibits gold encapsulation in pyrite and the predominance of gold-telluride
           (calaverite and petzite) mineralisation.  Whilst gold-telluride mineralogy is
           somewhat uncommon, ores of this type have been mined and successfully
           processed for decades at Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, one of the world's
           richest goldfields (approximately 60 million oz extracted to date since
           discovery in 1893 1  (#_ftn1) ), Cripple Creek in Colorado (approximately 21
           million oz extracted 2  (#_ftn2) ), Fiji and elsewhere.

 ·         Mineral processing test work data provided by SGS and CS Solutions in South
           Africa, and supervised by our consultant Stirling Process Engineering Ltd.,
           has enabled the development of a potential mineral processing flowsheet.  It
           indicates that gold recovery of approximately 85% could be obtained by
           adopting flotation followed by a pressure oxidation of a bulk concentrate and
           cyanide leaching of the pressure oxidation residue.

 ·         The Company is reviewing the new MRE, JORC Exploration Target and mineral
           processing scouting test work reports so that it can carry out preliminary
           economic assessment ('PEA') study work on the viability of the Project's
           mineral resources and consider the potential for further conversion of MRE
           ounces to the JORC Indicated category.

 

Chief Executive Officer of Oriole Resources, Martin Rosser, said: "We are
delighted with the new Bibemi MRE upgrade, which shows a significant 23%
increase in contained gold to 460,000oz when compared to the January 2024
estimate, with grades still above 2g/t Au.  In addition, 100,000oz are now in
the JORC Indicated category and this plus the JORC Exploration Target range of
145,000oz to 400,000oz contained gold estimate for the Bakassi Zone 1, Bakassi
Zone 2, Lawa East and Lawa West prospects provides optimism for an ultimately
even larger contained gold resource.

"Separately, mineral processing work has enabled our consultant to prepare a
provisional treatment plant flow sheet which, with the new MRE, will enable us
to undertake provisional economic assessment studies, consider the next
technical study steps, and progress the lodged Exploitation Licence
Application with the Cameroon Government."

 

Figure 1. Plan view showing the distribution of Indicated and Inferred
Resources within the optimised Resource pit shell.

 

 

 

Further Details

 

Updated Mineral Resource Estimate

 

At the 177km(2) Bibemi orogenic gold project in the North region of Cameroon,
the Company's exploration to date has identified shear-hosted gold
mineralisation at four main prospects - Bakassi Zone 1, Bakassi Zone 2, Lawa
West and Lawa East - within an approximately 12km long mineralised
hydrothermal system at surface.

 

Between 2021 and 2022, the Company completed four phases of diamond drilling
at the Project for a total of 6,685.40m in 54 holes, with the majority of that
drilling focused on an approximately 1km long section at the BZ1-MRE zone.
In January 2024, the Company published an MRE for BZ1-MRE of 5.1Mt grading
2.30g/t Au for approximately 375,000 oz Au contained in the JORC Inferred
Resources category, based on a 0.45g/t Au lower cut-off grade and within a
US$2,000/oz gold price open pit shell (announcement dated 15 January 2024).

 

In February 2025, the Company completed the Phase 5 diamond drilling programme
at Bakassi Zone 1 to further test the BZ1-MRE zone, and two along-strike
targets, BZ1-NE and BZ1-SW, for a total of 6,915.40m in 56 holes.  This
programme was fully funded by BCM International as part of its agreement to
earn-in to a 50% interest by spending up to US$4 million in exploration
expenditure (announcement dated 5 January 2024).

 

Reported intersections from this programme include 4.10m at 7.99g/t Au
(BBDD059), 2.70m at 14.67g/t Au (BBDD058), 2.00m at 12.50g/t Au (BBDD061),
2.15m at 9.95g/t Au (BBDD063), 2.00m at 8.57g/t Au (BBDD075) and 1.20m at
25.54g/t Au (BBDD068), 1.00m at 15.11g/t Au and 2.00m at 3.51g/t Au (BBDD104),
4.10m at 2.20g/t Au (BBDD105), and 2.20m at 8.11g/t Au and 2.00m at 2.50g/t Au
(BBDD109) (announcements dated 12 September 2024, 14 October 2024, 28 November
2024 and 17 March 2025).

 

The Company today reports that independent consultant Forge has integrated
these results into an updated MRE for the BZ1-MRE zone.  The estimate has
delivered a total gross resource of 460,000oz contained gold Au at over 2g/t,
based on a 0.40g/t Au lower cut-off grade and within a US$2,750/oz gold price
open pit shell.  In addition to this being an approximate 23% increase on the
2024 MRE, the confidence level of the MRE has also been improved, with
100,000oz Au falling into the JORC Indicated category and the remaining in the
Inferred category (see Table 1).  The Indicated Resources occur as a unified
block in the centre of the deposit and could provide a suitable location for a
starter pit if mined.

 

 

Table 1. Updated JORC MRE for the Bakassi Zone 1 prospect

 

 JORC Classification             Gross                                                 Net Attributable (90%)
                                 Tonnage    Grade (g/t Au)  Total Contained Gold (oz)  Tonnage    Grade (g/t Au)  Total Contained Gold (oz)
 Indicated                       1,460,000  2.05            100,000                    1,314,000  2.05            90,000
 Inferred                        5,500,000  2.06            360,000                    4,950,000  2.06            324,000
 Total** (Indicated + Inferred)  6,960,000  2.06            460,000                    6,264,000  2.06            414,000

 

Notes:

 ·             Effective date of the Mineral Resource is 30 April 2025.
 ·             **The total includes Inferred Mineral Resources.  The Inferred component is
               too speculative to have economic considerations applied to it, and there is no
               certainty it will be converted to Indicated or Measured categories.
 ·             The Operator of the Bibemi Project is Oriole Resources.
 ·             The Mineral Resource Estimate is based on 61 diamond drillholes for a total of
               7,011.52 metres. Gold grades were estimated using ordinary kriging within
               hard-boundary mineralisation wireframes, based on composited assay data and
               variogram models for the principal mineralised domains.
 ·             A total of 6,791 density measurements were collected and used to support the
               estimate. Bulk density was interpolated into the block model using inverse
               distance weighting.
 ·             The Resource Estimate is shown on a gross (100%) basis of the Bakassi Zone 1
               target within the Bibemi Project.  Oriole currently holds a 90% net
               attributable beneficial interest through the licence holding company, OrrCam2
               SARL.  The remaining 10% interest is held by BCM International Limited which
               has an option to earn up to a 50% interest by funding US$4 million of
               exploration work.
 ·             All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate.
               Differences may occur due to rounding.
 ·             Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and have not demonstrated economic
               viability.  It is uncertain if further exploration will convert Inferred
               Mineral Resources to higher confidence categories.
 ·             To define the blocks with reasonable prospects of economic extraction, the
               Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate is reported above a cut-off grade of
               0.40g/t and constrained within wireframe models representing the mineralised
               bodies and within a Lerchs-Grossman optimised pit shell, based on a gold price
               of US$2,750/oz, with the application of reasonable mining parameters.
 ·             The Resource has been estimated by Mr. Robert Davies, EurGeol, CGeol, a
               Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for
               Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' (The
               JORC code).

 

Additional JORC Exploration Target*

 

Outside of the MRE, an additional JORC Exploration Target range of 3 to 5Mt at
1.50 to 2.50g/t Au for 145,000oz to 400,000oz contained Au has been estimated
for the Bakassi Zone 1, Bakassi Zone 2, Lawa East and Lawa West prospects (see
Table 2).  Only limited drilling has been completed to date at Bakassi Zone
2, Lawa East and Lawa West, highlighting the potential for upside in the wider
licence area.

 

Table 2. Exploration Target* for the Bakassi Zone 1, Bakassi Zone 2, Lawa
East and Lawa West prospects

 

 Tonnage Range          Grade Range (g/t Au)   Total Contained Metal Range (oz Au)
 3,000,000 - 5,000,000  1.50 - 2.50            145,000 - 400,000

 

*The potential quality and grade of the Exploration Target are conceptual in
nature. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral
Resource, and there is no certainty that further exploration work will result
in the determination of a Mineral Resource.

 

Notes:

 ·             The Exploration Target is an estimate of the exploration potential of the
               Bakassi Zones 1,  Bakassi Zone 2, Lawa East and Lawa West areas.
 ·             The Exploration Target has been generated using 77 diamond holes totalling
               4,631m of drilling. The Exploration Target has been prepared by constructing
               wireframe models to represent mineralised bodies.  The areas have been
               subjected to scout drilling only at this stage.  The wireframe models are
               extrapolated up to 500m along strike, following the mineralised trends. The
               wireframes have been extrapolated to a depth of 90 to 150m depth below the
               current topography.  The grade is presented as a range of approximately 25%
               above and below the average Resource grade for Bakassi Zone 1.
 ·             A density of 2.81 t/m(3) has been used throughout.  All figures are rounded
               to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate.
 ·             The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target is conceptual in
               nature.  There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral
               Resource for all target areas reported.  It is proposed that such areas are
               tested with infill Diamond and/or Reverse Circulation drilling although it is
               uncertain whether further exploration will result in the estimation of a
               Mineral Resource.
 ·             The Exploration Target sits outside of the Current Resource for the Bibemi
               project.
 ·             The Exploration Target has been estimated by Mr. Robert Davies, EurGeol,
               CGeol., a Competent Person as defined in the JORC code.

 

 

Potential Underreporting and Mineral Processing Flowsheet

 

The Company has also completed a separate, small-scale study to assess a
potential underreporting issue whereby, for higher-grading samples (those
greater than 10g/t Au), photon assay has typically delivered higher grades
compared to fire assay results for the same samples.  The sample population
is currently too small to meaningfully assess what impact this might have on
the MRE, but further work is being considered to evaluate fully the upside
potential.

 

A more detailed assessment of the mineralogy of two representative samples
from the centre of the BZ1-MRE zone has confirmed that the underreporting is
related to the presence of tellurides (predominantly calaverite with lesser
petzite) in the system, whereby the tellurides coat the gold during heating
and prevent it from it being reported fully during a standard fire assay
procedure.  This is not the case during photon assay analysis.

 

Ores with this style of mineralisation, with the gold tellurides being
encapsulated in pyrite, are also resistant to conventional direct
cyanidation.  However, SGS and CS Solutions have, under the guidance of
Stirling, completed mineralogical assessments and scouting test work on the
same representative samples. This has enabled the development of a provisional
mineral processing flowsheet (Figure 1).  This work has indicated that
approximately 85% gold recovery can be achieved by employing flotation
followed by pressure oxidation of a bulk sulphide concentrate and cyanide
leaching of the pressure oxidation residue.

 

Figure 1. Provisional Bibemi Processing Flowsheet

 

 

 

Whilst gold telluride mineralogy is somewhat uncommon, ores of this type have
been mined and successfully processed for decades at Kalgoorlie in Western
Australia, one of the world's richest goldfields (approximately 60 million oz
extracted to date since discovery in 1893), Cripple Creek in Colorado
(approximately 21 million oz extracted), Fiji and elsewhere.

 

Further sampling is being considered to support geo-metallurgical domaining at
the Project, and PEA modelling is also underway to support the Company's
optimisation of the Project, to consider the next steps of technical work, and
to support the ongoing Exploitation Licence Application.

 

Further information can be found in the Bibemi JORC Table 1 disclosure on the
following page of the Company's website:
https://orioleresources.com/projects/bibemi/
(https://orioleresources.com/projects/bibemi/) .

 

Competent Persons Statement

 

The information in this announcement that relates to the Mineral Resource
Estimate and the Exploration Target is based on data compiled by Mr. Robert
Davies, EurGeol, CGeol, an independent consultant to Oriole.  Mr Davies is a
Director of Forge International Limited.  Mr Davies has sufficient experience
that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under
consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent
Person as defined in the JORC Code.  Mr Davies consents to the inclusion in
the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in
which it appears.  The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new
information or data that materially affects the Mineral Resource Estimate or
the Exploration Target, and that all material assumptions and technical
parameters underpinning the MRE and the Exploration Target continue to apply.

 

The technical information in this release that relates to Exploration Results
and the planned exploration programme has been compiled by Mrs Claire Bay
(Executive Director).  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.

 

The mineralogical and scouting process test work leading to the development of
the provisional flowsheet has been supervised and interpreted by Mr David Lunt
of Stirling Process Engineering Ltd. David has significant experience in gold
processing and is a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code.

 

 

Enquiries:

 Oriole Resources Plc                             Tel: +44 (0)23 8065 1649
 Martin Rosser / Bob Smeeton / Claire Bay

 IFC Advisory Ltd (Financial IR & PR)             Tel: +44 (0)20 3934 6630
 Tim Metcalfe / Graham Herring / Florence Staton  oriole@investor-focus.co.uk

 Grant Thornton UK LLP                            Tel: +44 (0)20 7383 5100
 Samantha Harrison / Ciara Donnelly / Elliot Peters
 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP                   Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470

 Ewan Leggat / Jen Clarke

 

Glossary and Abbreviations

 2024 MRE          BZ1 MRE published in January 2024
 Au                Gold
 BZ1               Bakassi Zone 1
 Bibemi            Bibemi orogenic gold project
 Company           Oriole Resources PLC
 ELA               Exploitation Licence Application
 Forge             Forge International Limited
 g/t               Grammes per tonne
 JORC              Joint Ore Reserves Committee
 JORC Code         2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results,
                   Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves
 km                Kilometre
 km(2)             Square kilometre
 m                 Metres
 MRE               Mineral Resource Estimate
 Mt                Million tonnes
 Oriole Resources  Oriole Resources PLC
 oz                Troy ounce of gold
 PEA               Preliminary Economic Assessment
 Project           Bibemi orogenic gold project
 Stirling          Stirling Process Engineering Ltd
 t/m(3)            Tonnes per cubic metre

 

 

Notes to Editors:

Oriole Resources PLC is an AIM-quoted gold exploration company, with projects
in West and Central Africa.  It is focused on early-stage exploration in
Cameroon, where the Company has reported a JORC Resource of 460,000oz
contained gold at 2.06g/t Au in the JORC Indicated and Inferred categories at
its 90% owned Bibemi project and has identified multi-kilometre gold and
lithium anomalies within the district scale Central Licence Package project.
 BCM International is currently earning up to a 50% interest in the Bibemi
and Mbe projects in return for a combined investment of US$1.5 million in
signature payments, up to US$8 million in exploration expenditure, as well as
JORC resource-based success payments.

 

At the Senala gold project in Senegal, AGEM Senegal Exploration Suarl
('AGEM'), a wholly owned subsidiary of Managem Group, has completed a six-year
earn-in to acquire an approximate 59% beneficial interest in the Senala
Exploration Licence by spending US$5.8 million.  Discussions on the formation
of a joint venture company are currently underway.  The Company also has
several interests and royalties in companies operating in East Africa and
Turkey that could give future cash payments.

 

For further information please visit www.orioleresources.com
(http://www.orioleresources.com) ,  @OrioleResources on X

 1  (#_ftnref1)
https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/infrastructure-projects/kalgoorlie-super-pi
(https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/infrastructure-projects/kalgoorlie-super-pit)
t
(https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/infrastructure-projects/kalgoorlie-super-pit)

 2  (#_ftnref2)
https://www.achp.gov/preserve-america/community/cripple-creek-colorado
(https://www.achp.gov/preserve-america/community/cripple-creek-colorado)

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