West Africa-focussed explorer Oriole Resources reports that the mapping and stream sediment sampling programme for its 3 592 km² district-scale licence package in central Cameroon has been completed over the five easternmost licences.

The results of the 376 stream sediment samples point to gold of up to 95 parts per billion (ppb), which were received for the Niambaram and Tenekou licences.

The sampling programme follows a desktop remote sensing study that identified 12 initial priority gold targets.

The licence was issued to Oriole’s 90%-owned subsidiary Oriole Cameroon and its 51%-owned subsidiary Reservoir Minerals Cameroon, in February.

Oriole notes that samples for the remaining three licences – Pokor, Ndom and Mbe – are in the process of being submitted for analysis, with the results expected in the third quarter.

The sampling of the three western licences has been paused for the rainy season and is expected to restart in the fourth quarter.

The licences cover paleo-proterozoic to Pan-African age rocks and are highly prospective for orogenic-style gold mineralisation.

The results of the latest sampling indicate a number of areas of elevated gold in distinct drainage basins, associated with the northeast-trending Tcholliré-Banyo shear zone corridor and interpreted north-northwest trending cross-cutting structures.

Oriole further notes that 87 sample sites returned gold values of greater than 2 ppb of gold, while 51 sample sites returned gold values of greater than 5 ppb.

The highest-grade sample returned was 95 ppb of gold.

Oriole CEO Tim Livesey says the initial results from this first phase of exploration in the package, associated as it is with the main Tcholliré-Banyo shear zone corridor, support the company’s hypothesis of the central licence package being an area of huge potential for gold exploration.

“The fact that multiple areas of elevated gold concentrations have been identified in multiple drainage basins gives us confidence in our exploration model and reaffirms our encouragement for the prospectivity of the area,” he enthuses.

In addition, Livesey says that, of particular interest, is the apparent correlation of a number of these elevated gold-in-streams sample sites with significant interpreted lineaments and mapped structures and also with areas of historical and current artisanal mining activity.

He says planning is well advanced for the restart of the stream sediment sampling of the three westernmost licences in the fourth quarter of this year. “Ranking of priority targets will begin once more data has been received, to enable follow-up work programmes to be tailored to suit the expansion of the exploration programme.”

Meanwhile, Livesey adds that Oriole will be mobilising its field team over the next two to three weeks ahead of the next round of drilling at the Bibemi gold project, where Oriole’s maiden programme identified a number of follow-up targets, including a high-priority target extending over 1 km at the southern end of Bakassi Zone 1.