Aim-listed West Africa-focussed explorer Oriole Resources, through its 90%-owned Cameroonian subsidiary Oriole Cameroon, has found, through analysing 4 785 samples, grades of up to 838 parts per billion (ppb) of gold in multiple gold-in-soil anomalies at five prospecting licences in the country, including an 11.5-km-long anomalous zone at the Mbe licence.

Oriole Cameroon was granted five new licences for the Tenekou, Niambaram, Pokor, Ndom and Mbe projects – together the Central Licence Package (CLP) – in central Cameroon during the first quarter of 2021.

Together with a further three new licences – Mana, Dogon and Sanga – granted to Reservoir Minerals Cameroon, in which Oriole has subsequently earned a 90% interest, the CLP covers a contiguous, district-scale land package of 3 592 km².

The Mbe anomaly is confirmed to be in-situ and appears to be related to a topographic high immediately to the southwest. The exploration team on site is currently collecting samples over the remaining four priority grids to get 7 764 samples, and a further 1 270 samples have been planned to test the likely westward continuation of the Mbe anomaly.

Oriole CEO Tim Livesey says the soil sampling results are providing further definition to those anomalies, enabling the team to focus on the most prospective areas that will lead naturally towards trenching and drill targeting.

“These results are hugely significant as they are confirming proof of concept for the CLP. We are seeing multiple areas of gold mineralisation in a brand-new gold district where there has been no historical exploration,” he says.

The CLP licences were initially targeted by Oriole’s technical team owing to their apparent proximity to the dominant regional structure, the Tcholliré Banyo Shear Zone (TBSZ) corridor – a major southwest-northeast-trending splay off the larger-scale Central African Shear Zone.

The TBSZ and its associated shears, thrusts and faults are (according to academic literature) thought to be one of the significant structural controls for gold and other mineralisation in the region.

To date, Oriole has undertaken remote sensing studies over the entire CLP and completed a first-pass regional mapping and stream sediment sampling programme over the five easternmost licences that identified 18 initial targets of greater than 30 ppb of gold, with grades of up to 291 ppb of gold.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, follow-up semi-regional soil sampling commenced over five priority grids designed to target the source of the anomalism over the most prospective drainage basins.

Meanwhile, Oriole has started a stream sediment sampling programme at the three westernmost licences, held by Reservoir Minerals Cameroon, following their postponement to the second half of this year.

Elsewhere in Cameroon, a ground magnetics programme has recently been completed at Oriole’s 90%-owned Bibemi gold project in the north of the country. Diamond drilling here has already identified a 1-km-long zone at the southern end of Bakassi Zone 1, one of four targets at the licence.

At Bibemi, Oriole has found multiple mineralised intersections, including 6.5 m of gold mineralisation grading 3.92 g/t, 9.2 m grading 1.31 g/t, 5.2 m grading 1.97 g/t, 2.45 m grading 2.96 g/t, 3.6 m grading 1.75 g/t and 12.4 m grading 0.71 g/t.

Oriole anticipates the results of this work, together with those from a recently completed infill soil sampling programme over the southern half of the licence, will aid drill hole targeting at the other three targets – the Lawa West, Lawa East and Bakassi Zone 2 prospects.