Licence Renewal for Wapouzé Limestone Property

Oriole Resources (AIM: ORR), the AIM-quoted exploration company focused on West and Central Africa, is pleased to provide an update for its 85%-owned Wapouzé limestone property ('Wapouzé' or the 'Property') in northern Cameroon.

Highlights

• The Wapouzé licence has been renewed for a further term of two years, with an approved work programme focussed on limestone exploration.
• Although initially explored for gold, samples from outcropping limestone showed suitable chemistry to be classified as high-grade carbonate material, potentially suitable for use predominantly within the cement industry in Cameroon.
• There may also be a significant use for a potential limestone product in Cameroon's nascent gold mining sector. Limestone products such as hydrated lime and quicklime are utilised to adjust the pH levels during ore processing, reduce cyanide use in leaching operations, and as an acid water neutraliser for wastewater to prevent deleterious acid mine drainage.
• Approval for a change of substance at Wapouzé, from gold to limestone, was given in September 2023 but exploration work has been on hold pending this critical renewal.
• The cement industry in Cameroon is believed to be worth in the order of £700 million per year, largely dependent upon the import of clinker, a raw material made from cement-quality limestone.
• Oriole is now focused on securing an industrial minerals partner to develop Wapouzé through to commercial exploitation on an expedited basis.
• Securing a royalty-based payment on potential material extracted could provide a valuable income stream for Oriole in Cameroon.

Oriole Resources CEO, Martin Rosser, said: "The renewal of the Wapouzé licence is very good news and we are hopeful that we will be able to attract an industrial minerals partner to determine a commercially viable limestone deposit and fast track it through to commercial exploitation. In turn, this could generate significant royalty income to Oriole, provide a diversified revenue stream, and would be a win-win for the Company and Cameroon, as the government is keen to reduce the country's reliance on importing clinker for use in cement manufacture."

Wapouzé is located 20 kilometres ('km') to the north of the Company's more advanced Bibemi gold exploration project in northern Cameroon. Between 2019 and 2022, the Company completed soil sampling and trenching programmes that identified multiple gold-in-soil anomalies (announcements dated 18 March 2019, 6 June 2019 and 9 February 2022) but ultimately the Property was deemed less prospective for gold than Bibemi.

However, a comprehensive review of the data highlighted that the large quantity of carbonate material outcropping within the licence area, as previously identified by geological mapping (announcement dated 18 March 2019), could be suitable for industrial use and therefore presented an attractive commercial opportunity for the Company.

During 2022, a series of 14 rock chip samples over carbonate outcrops (mapped as marble and metamorphosed limestone) were collected and analysed by a laboratory using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to assess the limestone's suitability for use in the cement industry. All samples contained appropriate concentrations of silica ('SiO2') ranging from <0.01 percentage by weight ('wt%') to 1.58wt%. Thirteen of the 14 samples returned low magnesium oxide ('MgO') concentrations (0.40 - 0.8wt%) and high calcium oxide ('CaO') concentrations (54.2 - 55.3wt%) (see Table 1 below) and would therefore be classified as high-grade carbonate material suitable for use in cement production. In addition, some of the product may be suitable for use as an important chemical in Cameroon's promising gold mining sector. Limestone products such as hydrated lime and quicklime are utilised to adjust the pH levels during ore processing, reduce cyanide use in leaching operations, and as an acid water neutraliser for wastewater to prevent deleterious acid mine drainage.

The single sample that did not fit these criteria had high MgO and low CaO concentrations, indicating dolomitised material which, based on ground-truthing by the team, is believed to cover only a localised area of limited extent.

* one sample returned SiO 2 < detection limit of 0.01wt%, value was replaced with 0.005wt% for the average calculation

Due to the confirmation of high-grade carbonate material within the licence area, Oriole proceeded to apply for a change of commodity for the Wapouzé licence, from gold to limestone, and this change was approved in September 2023.

Recently, Cameroon has seen substantial foreign investment made into expanding its cement manufacturing capacity, and the government is keen to see its reliance on imported clinker and the domestic price of cement reduce significantly.

The Company today announces that the licence renewal underpinning that commodity change has been approved for a two-year term. The Company has an 85% beneficial ownership in the Property and is intending to transfer the licence to its own investment vehicle (announcement dated 17 October 2024).

Oriole will now look to secure an industry partner that will advance Wapouzé towards resource definition, development and exploitation on an expedited basis. Oriole is ultimately looking to achieve royalty-based income from a commercial scale quarrying operation, likely to be based upon the volume of material extracted, which would provide valuable in-country revenue that could be used for funding some of its gold and lithium-based exploration in Cameroon.