Oriole Resources PLC (LSE:ORR, FRA:S1Y) said the first half of 2021 saw a return to “business as usual” for the West Africa-focused exploration company.
In its interim results statement, the company highlighted “excellent exploration progress” in Cameroon and Senegal.
Administration expenses rose to £524,000 in the first half of the year from £416,000 the year before, reflecting the return to full-time salaries for the team after voluntary wage reductions in the prior year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a restart of exploration activities as borders reopened and travel became possible.
The pre-revenue company made a loss before tax of £871,000 versus a profit of £167,000 the previous year.
Cash and cash equivalents improved to £870,000 at the end of June 2021 from £198,000 a year earlier, leaving the company well placed to kick off the next phase of infill drilling at its Bibemi project when weather permits.
“The maiden drilling campaign at Bibemi has been a great success, with over half of these initial prospecting holes intersecting orogenic-type gold mineralisation, providing depth continuity to multiple targets within the 8.3km-long system identified at surface,” said Tim Livesey, Oriole’s chief executive officer.
“We continue to be free carried for all exploration on the Senala Licence in Senegal, where IAMGOLD has advanced its understanding of the Faré and Madina Bafé prospects through its 2021 drilling campaigns. The additional results received at the Faré prospect enabled us to announce a JORC compliant maiden resource of 155,000 oz Au [gold] at the Faré South anomaly, within a broader exploration target of up to 280,000 oz Au. The resource is currently unconstrained along strike and at depth. The same programme provided very encouraging results circa.1km to the south of that maiden resource at Faré Far South, further strengthening our belief in the potential for Faré to be a standalone, open-pit mine,” Livesey said.