Oriole Resources has published a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for marble at its 85%-owned Wapouzé project in north-eastern Cameroon, defining 32.2 million tonnes of JORC inferred resource at weighted average grades of 50.33wt% CaO, 1.13wt% MgO and 6.06wt% SiO2.
The AIM-quoted explorer and developer, focused on gold and industrial minerals in Central and West Africa, said the estimate points to the potential for a multi-decade limestone quarrying operation at the site.
Wapouzé began life as an early-stage gold licence but was judged less prospective than Oriole's nearby Bibemi gold project, prompting the company to seek a change of commodity designation in 2022 after identifying large quantities of carbonate rock.
The resource spans six marble domains covering a cumulative 2.6 kilometre strike length and was built from data gathered during the company's maiden 1,053.80 million, 21-hole diamond drilling programme and a recently completed resistivity survey.
Oriole has defined four open-pit shells demonstrating reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, with Pit 1, covering domains M1 and M2, holding the best quality material and accounting for roughly a third of the total resource at 11 million tonnes grading 52.68wt% CaO and 0.97wt% MgO.
At an assumed production rate of roughly 400,000 tonnes a year, Pit 1 alone contains the equivalent of 27.5 years of marble feed.
Beyond the resource boundary, Oriole has also outlined a JORC Exploration Target of between 5.5 and 14 million tonnes, with grades ranging from 48 to 53wt% CaO and 0.8 to 1.4wt% MgO, based on surface sampling and mapping rather than drilling.
"We are delighted with the Wapouzé maiden MRE as it shows that the Project has excellent potential for supporting a multi-decade limestone quarrying operation," said chief executive Martin Rosser, adding that the company believes, subject to a preliminary economic assessment, the project could deliver an attractive economic return.
Rosser said the limestone is envisaged primarily as a cement ingredient for markets in Cameroon and neighbouring Chad, though some drill results showing CaO grades above 54wt% suggest potential use as chemical-grade calcium carbonate, including in gold ore processing and the mineral filler market.
A local-level Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is under way to support submission of an Exploitation Licence Application targeted for the fourth quarter.
The company will now prepare a preliminary economic assessment and is pursuing industry partner discussions aimed at securing royalty-based income from a commercial-scale quarrying operation.
Oriole said proceeds from such a royalty structure would provide additional funding for its gold exploration work in Cameroon, where it is advancing resource updates at its Mbe and Bibemi projects.
"Based on the magnitude of the maiden MRE, we are hopeful that, in parallel with this underwriting the submission of an Exploitation Licence Application in this quarter, we have significantly enhanced the prospects of attracting an industry expert partner for the Project," Rosser said.