Thursday saw Oriole Resources (LON: ORR | FRA: S1Y) post another set of encouraging gold drilling results from its hotly-anticipated Assaleyta project in Djibouti.
The exploration company has a 10.81% interest in Thani Stratex Djibouti (“TSD”), which is currently focusing on three projects in the African country: Pandora, Hesdaba and Assaleyta.
In 2019, TSD inked a management and funding agreement with African Minerals Exploration & Development Fund III.
The first $2.5 million funding tranche was used for drilling programmes at Pandora and Hesdaba, while the second $2.5 million tranche is going towards more work at Hesdaba and Assaleyta.
Best initial results from reverse circulation (“RC”) drilling under the phase 2 exploration programme at Assaleyta include 16.0m grading 1.08 grammes per tonne (“g/t”) gold from 12.00m. Plus, 2.0m grading 8.97g/t gold from 11.0m – including 1.0m grading an impressive 43.00g/t.
Right now, there are 1,106 diamond core and RC samples for Assaleyta awaiting Djibouti ministerial clearance. Also waiting for clearance are 2,159 Hesdaba rock, diamond core and RC samples. Oriole said the final gold assay results are expected in the second half of the year.
The next stage of work at the TSD projects will start once all outstanding results are received and assessed.
TSD has completed its phase 2 programme – consisting of 687.80m diamond drilling in three holes as well as 2,508m RC drilling in 22 drillholes.
This latest work follows a limited phase 1 programme in 2016 at Assaleyta’s Porcupine Hill and Black Mamba prospects. Following that, the goal of the phase 2 programme was to further evaluate depth extension for the surface mineralisation at these two prospects, as well as to test a third prospect known as Red Eagle Mountain.
The results reported Thursday relate to 452 samples taken from five RC drill holes from Red Eagle Mountain, where “mineralisation is predominantly associated with epithermal quartz vein and vein breccia within a rhyolitic host rock”. These holes are labelled Ay-R-11 to Ay-R-15, though only partial results were received from Ay-R-15.
Testing so far found a number of narrow intervals with gold grades above 1g/t, as well as wider zones near-surface with the higher 1.08g/t and 8.97g/t readings previously mentioned. Oriole described these as “particularly encouraging”.
The company’s chief executive, Tim Livesey, said it is “great to see yet more encouraging results from this project” as the second drilling phase builds on earlier efforts.
Livesey added that, as work in Djibouti progresses, the firm is “happy to see this continued success” and ultimately expects this will “be reflected in an increased value in our equity position in the projects”.
“We look forward to updating the market when complete results from the phase 2 exploration drill programme are returned. In the meantime, we will carry on providing oversight of the programmes on behalf of the Oriole shareholders,” Livesey concluded.
Author: Anna Farley
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