Oriole Resources PLC - Gold and base metal explorer focused on West Africa - Says that AGEM Senegal Exploration Suarl has completed its six-year earn-in period at the company's Senala gold joint venture. AGEM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Managem Group, a Casablanca, Morocco-based mining company. Managem took control of Senala in April 2023, after acquiring AGEM. Oriole's interest in the project is held through its 85% interest in Stratex-EMC Sarl, a holding vehicle for the Senala exploration licence. Managem confirmed that, since the 2018 option agreement was signed, AGEM has spent around USD5.8 million on the Senala project. As a result, AGEM's ownership of the Senegalian venture is estimated to be around 59%.

Oriole says that discussions regarding the next steps for the Senala project are underway. These include the formation of a joint-venture company and technical committee, the submission of a work plan and budget from Managem, and a decision by Stratex on whether to contribute to work costs at Senala or dilute its ownership. Should Stratex choose not to contribute, Oriole says that Managem would need to spend a further USD31 million on the project to dilute Stratex's interest below 10%.

Current stock price: 0.34 pence per share, down 2.6% in London on Monday afternoon.

12-month change: More than doubled from 0.14 pence per share in February 2023.

By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.