Cameroon
Bibemi and Wapouzé are early-stage gold exploration projects, covering highly prospective Neoproterozoic Pan-African greenstone belts in north-eastern Cameroon. Oriole has the option to earn a 90% interest by spending US$3.12m.
The Company’s interests in the projects are held 100% by local company BEIG3 through its wholly-owned subsidiary, RMC Cameroon SARL, formerly held in JV with Reservoir Minerals Corporation. The majority of work to date has been completed at the Bibemi licence.
BEIG3 Option Agreement
Under the terms of an Option Agreement signed in June 2018, the Company will earn an initial 51% of both Projects by funding US$1.56m of exploration over two years. Thereafter, Oriole can earn a further 39% for an additional U$1.56m exploration expenditure, or on the completion of a pre-feasibility study on at least one of the Projects, over the subsequent two years. BEIG3 will retain a 10% free carried interest in both projects up to completion of the Second Option or the completion of a pre-feasibility study on at least one of the Projects.
Oriole has now met its Year 2 expenditure and work commitment under the Option Agreement. Oriole is a first-mover in Cameroon and has applications pending for a district-scale 3,500km2 licence package in Central Cameroon.
Bibemi
Bibemi (177 km2 ) is held by BEIG3’s wholly-owned subsidiary Reservoir Minerals (BVI) Cameroon.
In Q3-2018, the Company undertook a rock-chip sampling programme on the central Bakassi area, where former operator Reservoir Minerals Inc. had identified multiple mineralised trends over a strike distance of c.20km. A total of 454 rock chips samples were taken from quartz and quartz-tourmaline veins, and the host wall rock. Best results include 135.4 g/t Au, 119.7 g/t Au, 117.2 g/t Au and 107.2 g/t Au, with 16 samples returning >10 g/t Au and 43 samples assaying >1 g/t Au. The results extended the previously defined NE-trending ‘Zone 1’ gold anomaly to more than 4km in strike, and a second parallel NE-trending anomaly ‘Zone 2’ returned up to 35.9 g/t Au.
During 2019, the Company completed over 12,500m trenching. Results, up to 9m @ 3.14 g/t Au, have confirmed multiple zones of orogenic-type gold mineralisation, associated with quartz and quartz-tourmaline veins hosted in mafic schist and granodiorite. Channel samples taken across individual quartz veins within the trenches have also confirmed the potential for higher-grade mineralisation with best results of 13.70 g/t Au over 25cm and 9.55 g/t Au over 10cm from trench BT-010 and 6.64 g/t Au over 30cm in trench BT-019. Selective re-testing of historic RMC trenches (T01, T04, T07 and T08), to assess the continuity of mineralisation between Oriole’s trenches immediately to the north and south, has returned 2m at 9.9 g/t Au from T07 and 2.25m @ 1.13 g/t Au, 3m at 0.49 g/t Au and 2m at 2.46 g/t Au from T08.
Structurally-speaking, the entire Bakassi area appears to be a succession of folds with north-northeast axes. Mapping of the north-eastern end of the Bakassi area has confirmed the extension of mineralisation within the Zone 1 structural corridor by 1.3 km to the north-east, to approximately 5.3 km. Multiple sets of sub-horizontal, stacked quartz veins have also been identified that could support enhanced volumes of gold mineralisation in this area. Selective samples of ‘Category 1’ quartz-tourmaline veins, the most prospective for gold mineralisation, were taken to support the mapping. All samples were mineralised (>0.10 g/t Au) and 7 out of the 10 samples graded greater than 2.00 g/t Au, with best results of 35.86 g/t Au, 23.30 g/t Au and 19.70 g/t Au.
Drill targets for an initial c.2,000 metres of drilling (over 17 holes) have been planned at the Bakassi Zone to test the depth-extension of mineralisation identified to date. Three holes have been designed to intersect, at depth, mineralised stacked veins that were identified during Q4-2019 programme that returned up to 35.86 g/t gold Au. The stacked veins cross-cut a former RMC trench (T13) which had a reported best intersection of 38.00 metres grading 2.21 g/t Au.
Results to date have defined significant surface gold mineralisation over a strike of more than 5 kilometres at Bakassi and the planned maiden programme will enable testing of the system in the third dimension.
Prior to drilling, the team is currently undertaking detailed (1:2,000 scale) mapping of the north-eastern end of the Bakassi Zone, which remains open along strike, with the intention of expanding the planned drill programme to a full 3,000m. Drill mobilisation is currently underway, with commencement of drilling anticipated in late 2020.
The remaining areas of gold anomalism outside of this central zone are yet to be systematically explored by Oriole.
Bibemi JORC Table 1
Wapouzé
Wapouzé (136 km2 ) is held by BEIG3’s wholly-owned subsidiary Reservoir Minerals (BVI) Cameroon.
Located 20 km north of Bibemi, and in a similar geological setting, the main gold anomaly is located in the east of the licence. Reservoir Minerals conducted 1.5/ km2 stream sediment sampling between 2011 and 2015 and results (with 269 out of 573 samples analysed) included 14 samples >10ppb Au, 6 samples >25ppb Au and 3 samples >50ppb Au. The main anomalous structure follows the same orientation as at Bibemi and additional zones showing signs of mineralisation have been identified for follow-up.
In Q1-2019, Phase 1 systematic soil sampling was completed on a 400m by 100m grid to test the eastern portion of the licence for a total of 2,119 samples. Results, up to 531 ppb Au, identified two main zones of NE-trending mineralisation, associated with quartz veins hosted within a NE-trending package of sheared lithologies (amphibolite, diorite, marble and granodiorite) – the Bataol Zone (8km x 5km) in the north-east of the licence, which covers the previously identified stream sediment anomaly and the Bidzar Zone (2km x 4km) in the south-east of the licence.
At the Bataol Zone, multiple parallel >10 ppb Au anomalies have been defined, including an 8km-long by 0.2km-wide NE-trending anomaly. Multiple further anomalies have been defined in the Bidzar Zone, one of which (0.4km x 0.1km anomaly, >60 ppb Au) is supported by a 7.36 g/t Au selective rock-chip sample from an outcropping quartz vein.
Phase 2 infill soil sampling (200m x 100m grid) has recently been completed over main anomalies at the Bataol Zone in order to identify more discrete zones of higher-grade anomalism. Results for 639 soil samples returned a best grade of 210 ppb Au, with 3 samples reporting greater than 100 ppb Au, 45 samples >20 ppb Au and 123 samples >10 ppb Au. The soil results further confirm continuity of the >10 ppb gold-in-soil anomalies reported for Phase 1 soil sampling and have also defined more robust zones of higher-grade mineralisation within and independent of these zones. Of particular note is a >60 ppb Au anomaly that extends over an area of 1km by 300m within the previously-identified 2.8km anomaly in the centre of the Bataol Zone. This, and other areas of higher-grade gold-in-soil anomalism, appear to be related to nearby northeast-trending silicified and sheared metasedimentary unit.
Thin section petrography and XRD analysis is currently underway to help confirm the main lithologies and identify the key mineralisation and alteration assemblages. In the meantime, the team is designing the next programme of work at Wapouzé, ahead of the next dry season which will commence in October 2019.
Wapouze JORC Table 1