LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Oriole Resources announced a maiden JORC exploration target of up to 1.34 million ounces of gold for its 90%-owned Mbe project in Cameroon on Wednesday, marking what it described as a "significant milestone" in the project's development.
The AIM-traded explorer said the independent estimate by Forge International placed the Mbe project's MB01 prospect at 33 million to 44 million tonnes grading between 0.77 and 0.95 grams of gold per tonne, equivalent to 0.82 million to 1.34 million ounces of contained gold.

It said the estimate incorporated assay results from 13 of a planned 24 diamond drill holes at the MB01-S target, alongside 2024 trenching data at both MB01-N and MB01-S.

The model was based on mineralisation down to a depth of 200 metres, using a 0.30 grams per tonne cut-off.

Grade-tonnage sensitivity analysis showed strong retention of ounces at higher cut-offs, with 900,000 ounces averaging 1.07 grams per tonne at a 0.5 grams per tonne cut-off and 700,000 ounces averaging 1.33 grams per tonne at 0.7 grams per tonne.

Drilling at MB01-S was ongoing and expected to conclude later in the current quarter.

Oriole said it was aiming to publish a maiden, pit-constrained mineral resource estimate in the fourth quarter of 2025, and believed the project could be amenable to open-pit mining.

Mineralogical studies from drill hole MBDD002 confirmed gold was mainly hosted in pyrite and as gold-telluride minerals, including calaverite and petzite.

Further test work was underway to determine the optimal processing route.

"The maiden exploration target for the company's Mbe project is a significant milestone achieved, and we are delighted with the target range which has a median of 38Mt at a mean grade of 0.86 grams per tonne for 1.1Moz contained gold," said chief executive Martin Rosser.

At 1251 BST, shares in Oriole Resources were up 1.62% at 0.22p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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