Oriole Resources plc announced it was now a third of the way through its planned diamond drilling programme at the Bibemi gold project in Cameroon.
The company will drill 3,080 metres for 28 holes, with a total of 967.50m completed to date in nine holes, BBDD001 to BBDD009.
The programme is testing the depth extension of surface gold mineralisation identified within a circa 8.3-kilometre-long system.
Previous surface exploration programmes have returned up to 135.40 grammes per tonne (g/t) of gold from selective rock-chip sampling and 9m at 3.14 g/t gold from trench sampling.
The first completed nine holes at the Bakassi Zone 1 prospect and were predominantly drilled at an inclination of -50 degrees towards the northwest, in order to intersect the dominant northeast trending (and steeply southeast-dipping) structure.
All holes to date have intersected mineralisation.
The first batch of samples (for the first hole BBDD001) for Bakassi Zone 1 have been processed and sent to Bureau Veritas for analysis, with results anticipated before the end of March.
A further two holes (BBDD002 and BBDD005) are being prepared for despatch later this month.
The site rig will now be moved to test the other three main identified prospects, Bakassi Zone 2, Lawa West and Lawa East.
Under the terms of its option agreement with Bureau d’Etudes et d’Investigations Géologico-minières, Géotechniques et Géophysiques SARL (BEIG3), Oriole Resources is earning up to a 90% interest in the Bibemi and Wapouzé projects in northern Cameroon by spending US$3.12m over four years.
Oriole is currently in year three of the investment period.