Oriole Resources (AIM:ORR), the AIM-quoted exploration company focused on Cameroon, will shortly begin its first drilling campaign at its 85%-owned Wapouzé limestone project in north-eastern Cameroon, targeting potential feed material for the country's cement sector.
The planned 1,000-metre diamond drilling programme will test the depth continuity of outcropping limestone and marble units that have already shown high-grade carbonate characteristics in surface sampling, with 13 of 14 rock-chip samples collected in 2022 classing as high-grade material, a finding subsequently confirmed by 139 further samples analysed in 2025.
The company aims to use the drilling results to support a JORC Exploration Target and, ultimately, a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the property, while continuing discussions with potential industrial partners for development of the asset on an expedited basis, with a royalty-based income model from quarrying operations the stated end goal.
Chief Executive Martin Rosser described the project as having "serious economic potential," citing the strategic location close to both Cameroon's domestic cement market and Chad, which he said faces a significant cement shortfall and depends heavily on imports.
Wapouzé sits approximately 100 kilometres north-east of Garoua and 20 kilometres from Oriole's Bibemi gold project; its licence was formally reclassified from gold to limestone by Cameroon's Ministry of Mines in September 2023.
