Oriole Resources PLC (AIM:ORR) shares soared on Monday after it highlighted positive drilling results from its Mbe gold project, in Cameroon, where it has returned 125 gold-bearing intersections from its first eight drill holes.
Oriole chief executive Martin Rosser told investors the indications to date “bode very well” for what is the explorer’s maiden drill programme at Mbe and for its plans to deliver the project’s first gold resource estimates.
"We are ecstatic with the latest drill hole results from MB01-S,” Rosser said in a statement.
“Not only have we encountered very significant widths of mineralisation, but the grades in hole MBDD008 are the best to date and hugely impressive, and from near surface to boot.
"These results emphatically support our contention that MB01-S, with its wide zones of bulk-tonnage and near-surface gold mineralisation reported to date, could be favourable for a potential open pit mining operation.”
Results for three further holes are expected later this quarter.
Oriole anticipates completing the programme in the third quarter and subsequently publishing a Mineral Resource Estimate later in the year.
In London, Oriole shares climbed 19% to trade at 0.24p - and earlier this morning changed hands as high as 0.27p.
Drilling in detail
The company said the results include 31 new intersections from holes MBDD007 and MBDD008.
Highlights from MBDD008 included 86.50 metres at 1.36 grams per tonne old from 22.00 metres depth, including a higher-grade section of 1 metre at 17.00 grams per tonne gold.
MBDD007 returned 24.20 metres at 0.45 grams per tonne gold from 194.30 metres.
The company reported 2,667.30 metres drilled so far, with an average of one gold intersection for every 21 metres.
The Phase 1 programme is 60% complete, with 3,912.20 metres drilled across 12 holes.