LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Africa and Europe-focussed exploration company Oriole Resources announced the results of systematic air core (AC) drilling at its 85%-owned Dalafin project in the Kédougou-Kéniéba inlier of eastern Senegal on Thursday.
The AIM-traded firm reiterated that IAMGOLD Corporation had the option to spend $8m to earn a 70% interest there.

In the second quarter, IAMGOLD began a fully carried multiphase drilling programme on the southernmost Madina Bafé prospect, which lies about 12 km to the west-northwest of IAMGOLD's 2.49Moz Boto gold project, where the geological setting was similar, including the presence of quartz-tourmaline veins.

IAMGOLD's recently-completed feasibility study at Boto had delivered "significantly improved" project economics, and it would shortly apply for a mining licence there.

Oriole said the 2,428m AC drilling at Dalafin was completed in 552 holes at the Madina Bafé prospect, with the best results including 2.48 g/t Au and 0.66 g/t Au.

It explained that a broadly west-northwest trending anomaly identified over 1.5 km in south-east of Madina Bafé, coincident with bismuth and molybdenum amonalism, and confirmed the mineralised trend it had previously reported.

A second north-south trending gold anomaly, located 2 km to the northwest, extends more than 400 m, and confirmed earlier termite anomalism reported by Oriole.

Oriole said sampling of artisanal mining sites during the AC drill pad construction had returned 4.11 g/t Au, 1.2 g/t Au and 0.59 g/t Au from grab samples of sheared quartz-tourmaline veins within a granite-granodiorite contact in the north-east.

A 3,000m reverse circulation (RC' drilling programme was now set to commence in November, to test newly-generated targets as well as along strike from mineralised holes previously reported by Oriole.

Follow-up diamond drilling totalling 500m would then be conducted to confirm higher grade results from Oriole's earlier RC and diamond drilling.

IAMGOLD's Feasibility Study on Boto delivered "excellent" project economics, Oriole said, including a post-tax internal rate of return of 23% and a net present value of $261m.

"We are very glad to see IAMGOLD progressing so quickly with their earn-in on Dalafin and are especially pleased that the initial AC drilling campaign has been successful in 'seeing-through' the lateritic cover, identifying broad zones of anomalous gold mineralisation as well as higher grade samples that could indicate a feeder zone at depth," said Oriole chief executive officer Tim Livesey.

"These encouraging results have not only supported previous work by Oriole but have importantly also identified new targets."

Livesey said both would be the focus of deeper, follow-up RC and diamond drilling, starting next month.

"We look forward to updating our shareholders as data from this ongoing exploration programme is received."

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