Oromin keeps hitting gold in Senegal (January 13, 2009)

Vancouver – A 140,000-metre drilling effort in 2008 is paying off for Oromin Explorations (OLE-T): 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 proven up 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 the month.

And the latest set of drill results from Sabodala indicates the new resource will carry a good gold grade. Since the data cut-off for the initial resource estimate Oromin has drilled another 375 holes at Sabodala. The Masato deposit saw the biggest portion of those drill holes; drilling at Masato has focused on extensive step-out drilling along trend as well as both up and down dip.

Hole 312 provided one of the strongest intercepts to date from Masato: 25 metres grading 8.86 grams gold per tonne, starting 180 metres downhole 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 below surface. 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.

Golouma South is another of the defined deposits at Sabodala. 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 grading 2.84 grams gold from 190 metres downhole. 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 downhole, 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. Drilling at Kerekounda has delineated a continuous, shear-hosted vein system over a 250-metre strike length and to a down-dip extent of 200 metres thus far. Results from Kerekounda indicate the zone carries strong gold grades.

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 downhole. And hole 484 hit 12 metres averaging 4.45 grams gold from 164 metres depth. 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. 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 Deposit’s rectangular land package; a small portion is in the Niakafiri deposit, which borders the southern edge of its property.

Oromin believes its new Niakafiri zone is a direct extension of Mineral Deposit’s Niakafiri deposit. More generally, Oromin thinks the Niakafiri deposit is part of an 8-km long structural trend that extends north and south of Mineral Deposit’s property: Oromin’s Masala deposit marks the north end of the trend, Mineral Deposit’s Sabodala deposit in near the middle, and the Niakafiri deposit and neighbouring Niakafiri zone mark its southern end.

Oromin recently reported results from some 15 holes at its Niakafiri 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 down hole 369, 13 metres grading 1.74 grams gold from 2 metres down hole 374, and 29 metres of 1.15 grams gold from 16 metres down hole 399.

The third new mineralized zone at Sabodala is Maki Medina, which sits 2 km south of Niakafiri and may be another extension to that same 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 followed by 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 plans to start work on a prefeasibility study immediately.

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.

The latest set of drill results lifted Oromin’s share price 11¢ to close at 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¢ to $4.15 and has 65 million shares outstanding, 80 million fully diluted.