Oriole Resources PLC (AIM:ORR) earlier this week announced a maiden mineral resource estimate of nearly 900,000 ounces of contained gold at its Mbe South project in Cameroon.
Speaking to Proactive, chief executive Martin Rosser said the result demonstrated the potential for Cameroon to host large gold deposits and underpinned the company’s broader licence position. “This maiden MRE emphatically reinforces the district potential,” he said.
Here, we take a closer look at the conversation.
Martin, good to see you again. Congratulations on that maiden resource estimate. What can you tell us about the outcome and how significant this milestone is for Oriole Resources and the Mbe project?
Martin Rosser: Thank you, Stephen, and good morning — and good morning viewers. Well, this is an absolutely stupendous result for the Mbe South MRE. We've hit almost 900,000 ounces of contained gold in the inferred resources category from a maiden drilling program that started just under a year ago. So it's a great credit to the exploration team. The outcome is 50% greater than the median in the earlier exploration target that was published. The JORC exploration target had a range of 445,000 to 730,000 ounces and this result is also at a higher grade.
It's over a strike length of around 900 metres, a width of 700 metres and a depth down to 340 metres, yet it remains open in all directions. Just so people put this in context, the grade of 1.1 grams per tonne is similar to the majority of other African gold projects and mines. And most definitely, it’s only the start of delineating what we have there. It really demonstrates the Oriole investment value proposition and the potential for Cameroon to host large gold deposits.
Proactive: As you said, Martin, the results have exceeded your earlier targets and both MB01 South and MB01 North remain open in all directions. How much bigger could this resource become?
Martin Rosser: Well, firstly, if we look at Mbe South, there's tremendous potential for resource expansion there through both infill and step-out drilling. And then of course we have the MB01 North prospect, 700 metres to the northeast, that currently has a JORC exploration target range of 370,000 to 605,000 ounces. It's undrilled and has similar quality surface anomalies, including impressive trenching results.
If we assume a similar favourable conversion outcome for that northern exploration target, then a realistic near-term combined target range for Mbe South and North would be 1.25 million ounces to over 1.5 million ounces. And bear in mind, too, that we have additional targets in Mbe Two, Three and Four, which are situated less than four kilometres from the Mbe South resource zone, within the wider Mbe licence.
Proactive: Martin, what are the next key steps for Oriole and your partner BCM International following the strong maiden result?
Martin Rosser: As I've said, both the Mbe South MRE and the MB01 North exploration target remain open in all directions and depth. So the next work program is to begin as soon as possible after we've discussed and finalised things with BCM, our earn-in partner.
Proactive: You've mentioned the possibility of a low strip ratio open pit mine. How soon could that concept be considered?
Martin Rosser: Our focus is definitely on fully delineating the magnitude of the gold resources at Mbe. But with further drilling, metallurgical testing and successful economic evaluation work, we’ll start to consider the MB01 South potential to support a low-strip open pit operation. We've already seen significant widths of mineralisation in the drill intersections, and it presents an ideal shape for an open pit operation. So certainly it's something we are starting to think about.
Proactive: What does the maiden MRE mean for the wider potential of the other contiguous eastern CLP licences, Martin?
Martin Rosser: What we've shown with this announcement is that Mbe South is now Cameroon's largest JORC MRE resource. The previous one was held by our Bibimi project, but we’ve leapfrogged that. This maiden MRE emphatically reinforces the district potential, as we have multi-kilometre scale gold-in-soil anomalies identified on all of the other four contiguous licences that make up the over 2,000 square kilometre eastern CLP area, which we own 100%.
Proactive: Martin, congratulations again on that MRE, and I'm sure you'll keep us updated on your progress.
Martin Rosser: Thank you very much. Yes, we look forward to accelerating our activity and determining the ultimate magnitude of what is potentially a significant new gold district. There's definitely much to look forward to.