By: African mining market

Oriole Resources PLC has confirmed that drilling at its Mbe project in Cameroon has extended the sub-surface gold system, with recent results pointing to a strike length of at least 300 metres and mineralisation open in all directions and at depth.

The London-listed explorer reported that recent holes from its maiden drilling programme at the MB01-S target returned several gold-bearing intersections.

The results included 1.10 metres at 9.35 grams per tonne gold, 2.20 metres at 2.47 grams per tonne, and 3.00 metres at 1.59 grams per tonne. These results were based on a lower cut-off grade of 0.20 grams per tonne gold.

Following a review of recent geostatistical data, the fully funded Phase 1 drilling campaign at MB01-S has been expanded to 7,050 metres across 25 holes.

So far, 18 holes have been completed, totalling 5,580.5 metres, with a nineteenth hole currently nearing completion.

The company said it now has over 250 gold-bearing intersections at MB01-S, with a discovery rate of more than one intersection for every 19 metres drilled.

The latest drilling has not only increased the strike length of sub-surface mineralisation to 300 metres, but also confirmed that the gold system is up to 400 metres wide and extends to at least 290 metres depth.

Importantly, the system remains open in all directions and at depth.

Martin Rosser, chief executive of Oriole Resources, said: “The latest set of drilling results continues to support our expectation, based on the recently published JORC exploration target, of defining a resource of considerable scale at MB01-S.

“We now have delineated a substantial gold system which, importantly, remains open in all directions and at depth and we look forward to reporting the maiden MRE in Q4 2025.”

After the maiden drilling is complete, Oriole plans to publish its first independent, pit-constrained Mineral Resource Estimate for MB01-S in the fourth quarter of 2025. The company believes the project could be suitable for open-pit mining methods.

Oriole holds a 90% interest in the Mbe project, which is focused on orogenic gold deposits in Cameroon. The drilling results so far underpin the company’s recently published exploration target and will help guide further work on the project.