Oromin Advances Sabodala

VANCOUVER — A 140,000-metre drilling effort in 2008 is paying off for Oromin Explorations (OLE-T, OLEPF-O): the company has delineated six mineralized zones at its Sabodala project in eastern Senegal and is preparing a new resource estimate based on a slew of promising results.

When it started the large-scale drilling campaign at Sabodala in early 2008, Oromin had three key targets. By the middle of the year, it had tallied gold resources in all three. Now its drills have hit consistent mineralization at three more targets and the company is pushing to get a new resource estimate for all six sites ready by the end of February.

Sabodala boasts 17 gold targets, including the six just mentioned. Half of them have never been drilled. The project is rectangular, with its long axis tilted to the northeast. The mineralized corridor it contains is roughly 22 km long by 8 km wide.

Of late, Oromin geologists have realized that corridor is home to two parallel mineralized trends. Both run northeast-southwest. The trend on the northwest side hosts near-surface, large-tonnage, low-grade mineralization; the targets on the southeast trend are usually at greater depths but also carry stronger grades.

And Oromin has been exploring both vigorously — since the data cutoff for the previous resource estimate, Oromin has drilled another 375 holes at Sabodala. The Masato deposit, which sits on the more northerly trend, saw the biggest portion of those drill holes; drilling at Masato has focused on extensive stepout drilling along trend as well as both up and downdip.

Hole 312 provided one of the strongest intercepts to date from Masato: 25 metres grading 8.86 grams gold per tonne, starting 180 metres down-hole and including 12 metres of 17.26 grams gold. Hole 395 cut 16 metres grading 2.19 grams gold from surface followed by 17 metres of 2.44 grams gold starting at 29 metres depth. Similarly, hole 426 hit 14 metres from surface grading 3.13 grams gold, followed by 25 metres grading 1.08 grams gold from 25 metres depth. And hole 469 returned 22 metres averaging 2.78 grams gold, also from surface, the top 5 metres of which graded 7.3 grams gold.

At Masato, multiple mineralized horizons sit within a broad alteration zone. The zone has been traced for over 2 km along strike and to depths exceeding 200 metres; it remains open in all directions. The August estimate pegged Masato’s resources at 16.6 million inferred tonnes grading 1.25 grams gold. As vice-president of exploration David Mallo describes it, Oromin sees Masato as a large-tonnage, open-pittable target.

Golouma South is another of the defined deposits at Sabodala, but it sits on the trend parallel to that hosting Masato and, true to its trend, its mineralization is deeper and carries better gold grades. Recent drilling at Golouma South has intersected mineralization at greater depths than in previous efforts. For example, hole 316 returned 15.01 grams gold over 5 metres from 199 metres depth, followed quickly by 5.26 grams gold over 9 metres. And hole 330 cut 10 metres at 2.84 grams gold from 190 metres down-hole.

Golouma South is currently home to 1.8 million inferred tonnes grading 3.61 grams gold.

The third defined deposit at Sabodala is Golouma West, where Oromin released results from one recent significant hole from the deposit’s down-plunge extension. Hole 371 returned 3.41 grams gold over 18 metres from 369 metres down-hole, including 7 metres grading 5.83 grams gold. The inferred resource at Golouma West currently stands at 6.7 million tonnes grading 2.83 grams gold.

After proving up three deposits, Oromin had 11 other targets at Sabodala to drill test; the company says results from three of those targets will promote them to deposit status in the upcoming resource estimate. One of those new deposits is Kerekounda, which lies 1.5 km north of Golouma South on the same trend. Drilling at Kerekounda has delineated a continuous, shear-hosted vein system over a 250-metre strike length and to a downdip extent of 200 metres thus far. Results from Kerekounda indicate the zone carries strong gold grades — it is primarily an underground target.

Hole 376 cut 9 metres grading 15.51 grams gold from 46 metres depth. Hole 378 returned 12.87 grams gold over 7 metres, from 35 metres. And hole 484 hit 12 metres averaging 4.45 grams gold from 164 metres. Previous results from the zone include 52.61 grams gold over 9 metres, 48.68 grams gold over 4 metres, and 25.34 grams gold over 7 metres.

The second new zone at Sabodala is Niakafiri South. The Sabodala project surrounds Mineral Deposits’ (MDM-T, MDL-A) Sabodala gold project, where the Australian-based company is almost finished developing an open-pit mine to tap into the project’s 1.6-million-oz. gold reserve. Most of the reserve sits in the Sabodala deposit, which is in the centre of Mineral Deposits’ rectangular land package; a small portion is in the Niakafiri deposit, which borders the southern edge of its property.

Oromin believes its new Niakafiri South zone is a direct extension of Mineral Deposits’ Niakafiri deposit. More generally, the Niakafiri deposit is one part of that more northerly structural trend at Sabodala that extends north and south of Mineral Deposits’ property. Oromin’s Sabodala North and Masato deposits mark the north end of the trend, Mineral Deposits’ Sabodala deposit is near the middle, and the Niakafiri deposit and neighbouring Niakafiri South zone mark its southern end thus far. Other Oromin targets — Maki Medina, Kobokoto, and Goumbati — could extend the trend farther once proven up.

Oromin recently reported results from some 15 holes at its Niakafiri South zone. Hole 473 returned one of the longest intercepts — 37 metres grading 2.28 grams gold, from just 2 metres depth — while hole 494 cut one of strongest — 6.09 grams gold over 7 metres, from 32 metres depth. Other results include 4 metres of 5.24 grams gold from 81 metres depth in hole 369, 13 metres grading 1.74 grams gold from 2 metres depth in hole 374, and 29 metres of 1.15 grams gold from 16 metres in hole 399.

The third new mineralized zone at Sabodala is Maki Medina, which sits 2 km south of Niakafiri and as mentioned may be another extension to that structural trend. Drilled to follow up on a gold-in-soil anomaly, Maki Medina has been tested with wide-spaced drilling over 1 km of strike. Interesting results include 13 metres grading 2.51 grams gold from 105 metres depth in hole 394, 3 metres of 6.5 grams gold from 52 metres depth, 11 metres of 2.3 grams gold from 136 metres depth in hole 395, and 10 metres averaging 1.85 grams gold from 33 metres depth in hole 443.

Following a holiday break, Oromin has remobilized drill crews to the project, which sits near the border with Mali in eastern Senegal, roughly 650 km east of the capital city of Dakar. The company has initiated work on a prefeasibility study and plans to complete it by July. It is obligated to submit the report to the government of Senegal in August and when it does so will also submit its application for a mining permit.

Oromin owns 43.5% of the Sabodala project and acts as the project operator; two private companies hold the rest. Together, the three companies form the Oromin Joint Venture Group. Oromin is responsible for 50% of project expenditures. The Sabodala partners are considering an $18-million exploration budget for 2009.

The latest set of drill results lifted Oromin’s share price 11¢ to 78¢ in Jan. 13 trading. The company, which in December graduated to the main Toronto Stock Exchange from the Venture board, has a 52-week trading range of 38.5¢-$4.15 and 65 million shares outstanding, or 80 million fully diluted. As of the middle of January, Oromin had $10 million in the bank and the company carries no debt.