Aim-listed Oriole Resources has announced its joint venture partner IAMGOLD Corporation is in the penultimate year of a six-year option agreement to earn a 70% interest in the Senala project, in Senegal.
IAMGOLD earns this interest by spending up to $8-million on the project.
As of September 29, IAMGOLD has spent $6.50-million on the project, and is currently formalising its 51% interest in Senala, as part of the first option on the project.
In terms of the second option, IAMGOLD has completed a 10 695 m auger drilling programme, for 1 307 holes, at the Faré prospect, amounting to a spend of $4-million by February 28, 2024.
Holes were drilled to an average depth of 8 m, with up to three samples collected per hole to assess the underlying geology and identify potential extensional gold anomalism.
IAMGOLD’s gold assays for 2 551 samples have identified multiple structurally controlled gold anomalies outside of the previously identified footprint at Faré.
Most of these newly identified anomalies follow the same north-easterly trend as the existing Faré North, Faré South and Faré Far South prospects.
All anomalous trends have been reviewed and prioritised for further work, Oriole confirms, adding that the results again indicate the potential for the Faré area to host a standalone resource.
“This portion of the Senala licence continues to show robust value add, with capacity to easily expand the existing maiden resource by a programme of infill drilling on the existing Faré North, Faré South and Faré Far South targets,” says Oriole CEO Tim Livesey.