Renewal of Bibemi and Wapouze Licences, Cameroon

Oriole Resources PLC 

('Oriole Resources' or 'the Company' or 'the Group')

Renewal of Bibemi and Wapouzé Licences, Cameroon

Oriole Resources PLC (AIM: ORR), the AIM-quoted exploration company focussed on West Africa, is delighted to announce that renewals have been received for the Bibemi and Wapouzé exploration licences in Cameroon ('Bibemi' and 'Wapouzé' respectively), where the Company is earning-up to a 90% interest.

Drill equipment is currently being mobilised to site ahead of the planned maiden 3,000 metre ('m') drilling programme later this year (announcements dated 24 September 2020 and 11 May 2020). Following a recent fundraise for £1.869 million, the drilling programme is fully funded subject to shareholder approval at a General Meeting scheduled for 27 October 2020 (announcement dated 7 October 2020).

Highlights

·    Licence tenure at Bibemi renewed for a third two-year term, covering a licence area of 177 square kilometres ('km²');

·    Drilling equipment is currently being mobilised ahead of a maiden 3,000 m drilling programme, expected to commence later in the fourth quarter;

·    Drilling programme is fully funded subject to shareholder approval at a General Meeting scheduled for 27 October 2020;

·    17 drill holes already identified and pegged within the high-grade Bakassi area ('Bakassi') for a planned 1,940 m;

·    Oriole team now on the ground in Cameroon - further targeting currently underway at the northern end of Bakassi, which remains open along strike;

·    Licence tenure at Wapouzé renewed for a second two-year term, covering a licence area of 136 km². Oriole intends to work-up this target to drill-ready status, alongside the programme at Bibemi;

·    Licence applications still pending for eight new licences in central Cameroon, which cover a contiguous land package of c.3,500 km² within highly prospective terrane for gold mineralisation.

Oriole Resources CEO, Tim Livesey, said: "We are very pleased to have received the final documentation relating to the renewals of the Bibemi and Wapouzé licences today.  We thank the Minister, His Excellency Gabriel Ndoke, and his staff for their assistance in progressing these renewals to allow the next phase of work on the licences to begin. 

"We have worked up these targets, with encouraging results from the very beginning, and we are eager to test the vertical extent of the mineralisation identified to date. We have recently signed a contract with Capital Limited for an initial 3,000 m diamond drilling programme at Bibemi, and are pleased to be working with a company which has been at the forefront in the development of work processes with a keen focus on the environment, health, safety and employee development. This maiden drill programme marks a significant step in Cameroon for the Oriole team and our partner BEIG3.

"The recent equity raise, which was quickly filled (subject to approval at the general meeting on 27 October 2020), will provide us with funding for the drill programme and we are encouraged to see the support from new and existing shareholders in this regard. 

"At Wapouzé, the possibility of defining yet further drill targets exists and we hope to develop our understanding of the area sufficiently during the upcoming field season to allow a drill programme to be planned there for 2021. 

"We await notification of the finalisation of our applications for the new licence areas in central Cameroon and look forward to beginning early stage work on these licences as appropriate. 

"We will update the markets with results as all of these programmes progress."

Further Details

Under the terms of its option agreement with Bureau d'Etudes et d'Investigations Géologico-minières, Géotechniques et Géophysiques SARL ('BEIG3'), the Company is earning-up to a 90% interest in the Bibemi and Wapouzé projects in northern Cameroon by spending US$3.12 million over four years (announcement dated 12 June 2018). The Company is currently in year three of that investment period.

The Company today announces that on 7 October 2020, it received notification that the exploration licence at Bibemi, currently held by a wholly-owned subsidiary of BEIG3, has been renewed for a third two-year term from 5 October 2020, covering a licence area of 177 km². Drilling equipment is currently being mobilised by Capital Limited ahead of a 3,000 m drilling programme (announcement dated 24 September 2020). Equipment is expected to arrive on site later in the quarter, with commencement of drilling anticipated shortly thereafter.

As previously reported, the maiden drilling will focus on testing the depth-extension of mineralisation at Bakassi. To date, the Company has identified and pegged targets for an initial c.2,000 m of drilling (over 17 holes) at the Bakassi Zone to test the depth-extension of mineralisation identified to date. The drilling will particularly focus on the stacked veins recently identified at the northern end of the 5.3 kilometres ('km') 'Zone 1' target, where sampling has returned up to 35.86 grammes per tonne ('g/t') gold ('Au') from rock-chip sampling and a best trenching intersection of 9 m at 3.14 g/t Au (announcement dated 21 May 2019).

The team is now on site and, in addition to preparing for the drill programme, is undertaking further detailed (1:2,000 scale) mapping along strike at Bakassi to the north east. This work is expected to identify further drilling targets to support the total 3,000 m programme (announcements dated 11 May 2020 and 24 September 2020). Completion of the drilling programme is expected to see Oriole satisfy the conditions for the Company to earn a 90% interest in RMC Cameroon Sarl, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BEIG3, and the holding company for the Bibemi and Wapouzé licences.

Earlier this week, the Company announced that it had, subject to shareholder approval at a General Meeting scheduled for 27 October 2020 (announcements dated 7 October 2020), closed a Placing and Offer for aggregate gross proceeds of £1.869 million. These funds will be used to support the ongoing exploration at the Company's projects in Cameroon, including completion of the drilling programme.

Licence tenure at the Wapouzé project, 20 km north of Bibemi, has also been renewed for a second two-year term from 5 October 2020, covering a licence area of 136 km². A less advanced project than Bibemi, Oriole intends to undertake further surface exploration, including trenching, at Wapouzé to progress it to drill-targeting status.

Elsewhere in Cameroon, licence applications are still pending for eight new licences in central Cameroon, which cover a contiguous land package of c.3,500 km² within highly prospective terrane for gold mineralisation.

For further information on Bibemi, including a drill plan and JORC Table 1 disclosure, please see the following page of our website https://orioleresources.com/projects/bibemi-and-wapouze/.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Following the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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For further information please visit www.orioleresources.com, @OrioleResources on Twitter, or contact:

Notes to Editors:

Oriole Resources PLC is an AIM-listed exploration company, operating West Africa. It is focused on early-stage exploration in Cameroon (Bibemi and Wapouzé projects) and the more advanced Senala gold project in Senegal, where IAMGOLD has the option to spend US$8 million to earn a 70% interest. Year two commitments have been met at all three projects. The Company has several interests and royalties in companies operating throughout Africa and Turkey that could deliver future cash flow, and it continues to assess new opportunities in both regions.