Exploration and mining companies have always been at the forefront of upskilling the local population in what are often remote areas of the world where educational facilities are sometimes less well established. Operating in Cameroon, with its relatively embryonic mining industry, gives us exposure to this opportunity and we work closely with the local communities and universities to deliver on this. Across all our operations, we source our employees in-country wherever possible and provide appropriate training at all levels to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity. During the year, the Company supported Cameroonian student Jessica Ngongalah on her Master’s project at the University of Ngaoundéré. Jessica’s project utilised a selection of stream and soil samples from our Central Licence Package project to study the suitability of a portable X-ray Fluorescence device for acquiring fast, accurate, and precise geochemical data while in the field. Our Senior Geologist, Constantin Ndongue, was present at Jessica’s thesis defence and award of her degree in October. In addition to the support of students, we are committed to generating a local work force, with the training of technicians and other support roles leading to the development of new skills within the communities in which we operate. For example, during the 2021 and 2022 drilling campaigns at Bibemi local people filled the ‘off-sider’ roles, an important part of the drill-crew.

The Company is also working to improve links with UK based universities and was able to support a University of Portsmouth student on their BSc project that investigated the petrology and genesis of the gold bearing versus barren quartz-tourmaline veins at our Bibemi project. This research was presented at the Company’s Technical Review Meeting in August at our UK Office in Eastleigh.

Diversity within a workforce brings wide-ranging benefits and can often be fundamental to a company’s success. Oriole promotes diversity throughout the Group, building its teams based on merit and not gender – or any other prejudice – and ensuring that everyone has equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities.  Despite being a male-dominated industry, Oriole strongly supports and empowers women in mining. The Company has female roles at all levels of the business, from junior staff through to management and the Board.

Exploration, and the resultant mining operations, drive significant growth in developing economies and are associated with a multiplier effect at both a local and national level. Oriole is committed to providing all of its employees with fair incomes, job security and safe working conditions. We support the development of all our employees and aim to provide an environment which will attract, retain, and motivate people, helping them to maximise their potential and share in the Group’s successes. Oriole has retained its Cameroonian team, all of whom are on full time contracts, giving them financial security by ensuring they are paid all year round, not just when the exploration programmes are running. We also remain committed to training and employing technicians and casual workers from the local communities, which has had a significant positive impact both financially and in terms of upskilling the local workforce. Oriole is also committed to providing help to the local community where possible and, during the year, the Company provided gifts in kind, such as transportation for construction materials for a new church at the nearby Padame village.

Exploration and mining is at the front line of discovering the very resources that are critical to the delivery of global infrastructure and technological advancements and that are important to many of the sustainability challenges facing the world today. Whilst we are gold-focussed, during our exploration work we also test for a wide range of other elements, including the battery metals that are crucial to meeting the UN’s sustainability goals. This is highlighted by our continued evaluation of anomalous lithium-in-soil concentrations within our Ndom licence alongside our gold exploration programmes. Whilst the importance of lithium in the context of carbon neutrality and development of green energy is well known, the importance of gold in building resilient infrastructure and promoting sustainable industrialisation is often overlooked and yet, due to its inherent properties, 11% of all gold produced is used in industry, with applications in medical, electronics, automotive, defence and aerospace industries, as well as climate-controlled buildings.

At a more local level, we aim to support governmental sustainability programmes and where possible include green technology within our workplace. In Senegal, through the option agreement with Managem, the Company provides annual contributions to the country’s Social Mining Programme, a fund dedicated to benefiting local communities, and an integral part of the Senegalese Mining Code.

Oriole leads by example in the countries and communities in which it operates, by building diverse teams that do not discriminate on the basis of sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, class, ethnicity, or religion. Throughout the business, we fully embrace the individuality of each and every one of our employees and operate a zero-tolerance approach to anyone that does not adhere to these values. Within the business, our team of 14 employees are from four different countries, practise a number of different religions and have ages ranging from 23 to over 65 years.

The Company is committed to minimising any adverse impacts of its activities on the natural environment and, as a minimum standard, we comply with any relevant legislation and environmental regulations within the territories in which we operate. During all of our programmes, we ensure that we have a minimal impact on the environment by planning our programmes as efficiently as possible and we have protocols in place to ensure that all of our sites are rehabilitated before we move on. Where trenches have to remain open for sampling and logging purposes, measures are put in place to ensure the safety of animals and people in the area. During the year, our other efforts towards protecting the environment included installing solar panels, sourced within Cameroon, at our local base in Mbe (Central Licence Package) to generate electricity and help reduce Oriole’s carbon footprint.

Oriole has a diverse array of stakeholders and is committed to understanding and meeting their needs. In all the countries we operate, we have local partners that help us to foster good relationships with local communities and the local administration to ensure that our goals are aligned. We also use in-country suppliers wherever possible to support communities and local businesses. In Cameroon specifically, we have also continued to work closely with the Ministry of Mines, the UK Honorary Consul and the British High Commission, and strongly support the efforts they are making to attract foreign investment and promote the sustainable development of Cameroon. During the year our local team attended the British High Commission’s sustainability conference for UK businesses in Cameroon. At a local scale, Oriole has a committed record and a continuous programme of reparation where any of our exploration programmes are found to impact on the local communities.