Oriole Resources PLC (AIM:ORR) this week raised new capital to accelerate exploration at its gold projects in Cameroon.
The company announced it had completed a £1.8 million placing and launched a £200,000 retail offer through the Winterflood Retail Access Platform. It confirmed the offer was priced at the previous day’s closing bid, with no discount applied, and that warrants exercisable at a premium were attached.
Oriole highlighted that the placing was backed by institutions, including RAB Capital, which now holds a 2.1% stake in the company.
Chief executive Martin Rosser said institutional support was “vital if we are to grow the value of Oriole for the benefit of all shareholders”.
Here, we take a closer look at interview with Rosser at the Proactive studio.
Martin, very good to speak with you. You've announced a placing and retail offer today. Could you let us know why now and what the proceeds will be used for?
Martin Rosser: Yes. Good morning Stephen, and good morning to viewers. Thank you for listening. Yes. We're delighted that we've announced a £1.8 million placing today and a further retail offer via a WRAP (Winterflood Retail Access Platform) of up to £200,000. In a firm sign of interest, this is not being done at a discount, but at yesterday's closing bid price. We have a warrant exercisable at a premium attached.
I'd like to thank the placees for their valued support, especially RAB Capital Group, which took 13.3% of the placing and which will hold 2.1% of the company. And Shard as the placing agent. The proceeds will be primarily used to advance our exciting exploration assets in Cameroon. With the recent important completion agreement with our Mbe and Bibemi projects partner BCM and today's placing, we now have appropriate funding for a busy and important work schedule planned for our Cameroon projects.
Firstly, with the objective of adding JORC MRE resources quickly at Mbe through the drilling of the Mbe01 North Prospect, which is planned to commence in December and targeted to conclude in late Q1 2026. This program is designed to convert the existing exploration target, which has a range of 372,000oz to 605,000oz of contained gold into JORC resources. And we will announce further details of this planned program shortly.
Additionally, we are now well financed to undertake a further significant program of work next year, including a proposed step-out drilling program following the Mbe North program at Mbe01 South Deposit, which is open in all directions. So importantly, in the highly prospective Pokor, Ndom and Tenekou licenses, which are within the Eastern Central License package and in close vicinity of Mbe, and also, crucially, in the same major regional geological trend.
We will also conduct extensive surface sampling over selected targets, and note that we have a 90% interest in those licenses. And, objective is to find another Mbe which we believe is highly probable. The funding will also enable us to complete more advanced technical studies to support the company's application for an exploitation license at the Bibemi project.
So in summary, there's an awful lot of work planned that we expect to add considerable value, and that required additional funds to be raised now so we can kick start everything and get stuck in.
Proactive: Martin, you had institutional participation in the placing. Was that important to you?
Martin Rosser: Yes, absolutely. We're delighted that we've been supported by institutions in the placing, particularly with RAB Capital, a well known investor to me and a big supporter of the resources sector. All our shareholders are important to us, but having institutional support is vital if we are to grow the value of Oriole for the benefit of all shareholders. And that's very much something I will be focused on adding to, as the months ahead unfold.
Proactive: Martin, with new shareholders joining the register, can you step back and remind us of the fundamental focus of Oriole Resources and what you're looking to achieve?
Martin Rosser: Yes, of course. Oriole is focused on the exploration for and the potential development of economic gold deposits. The company's primary assets are in Cameroon, where we believe the opportunity exists for a new gold mining district. Our two most advanced projects, the Mbe and Bibemi gold projects, are both in Cameroon. We have already achieved a lot there, but the further work planned at both projects is designed to take them to the next level.
Exploration companies add value in stages, and if we look at Bibemi for example, the work we have planned is designed to support our application for an exploitation license, which is an essential step in advancing the project towards a production decision. As this value is added to the company's projects, we very much would expect to see a valuation rerating see us much more in line with our quoted peers.
Proactive: Martin, sounds like exciting times ahead for Oriole. What can we expect to hear from you in the near term?
Martin Rosser: Thank you Stephen. Yes, most definitely. And as I've said, we will be shortly providing further information on the planned program at Bibemi to add JORC resources at the Northern Prospect and then thereafter on the southern deposit area. We've got an extensive work program for next year on all of our projects, which promises to be a very busy and productive time for Oriole Resources. And I very much look forward to updating the market on all of our activities and the results from in due course.
Proactive: I'm sure I'll be chatting to you again very soon. Martin, thank you very much for the update.