Oriole Resources plc announced that further funding has been agreed for its gold project interest in the Hodine exploration licence, southeast Egypt.
AGREEMENT
The licence hosts the Anbat and Hutite projects which have “substantial” gold resources.
The company holds a 24.92% interest in Thani Stratex Resources Ltd (TSR) which, through its local subsidiary Thani Dubai Mining (TDM), held a 100% interest in the licence.
Oriole said that TSR has signed a binding heads of terms agreement with private investment company Red Sea Resources Ltd (RSR) with respect to earning up to an 85% interest in Hodine.
In return, RSR will pay all outstanding fees and charges and make staged expenditure commitments for a total of $2.2 million.
RSR will fund exploration activities at Hodine in two options: $1.2m within 12 months of the Hodine licence renewal in return for a 51% interest; and $1m over a further 12 months for an additional 34% shareholding, to acquire 85%.
SHAREHOLDING
Oriole’s shareholding in TSR has been diluted to 24.92% from 26.10% following the satisfaction of creditors with an issue of ordinary share capital.
INFERRED RESOURCE
Chief executive Tim Livesey, who will sit on the TSR board for at least 24 months, said that the agreement would bring immediate funding, a new team and an exploration programme.
“Having an existing JORC inferred resource of 209,000 ounces of gold at Anbat and a non-JORC inferred resource of 520,000 ounces of gold at Hutite, there is ample evidence of the prospectivity within the area.”