TIDMTHR
RNS Number : 4406U
Thor Mining PLC
18 January 2017
18 January 2017
THOR MINING PLC
STRATEGIC OUTLOOK FOR 2017
The Board of Thor Mining Plc ("Thor" or the "Company") (AIM,
ASX: THR), is pleased to provide guidance on priorities and
strategies for 2017.
With the anticipated receipt of A$1.5million consideration
payment from the sale of the Company's residual 40% interest in the
Spring Hill gold project, due at the end of February 2017, the
Company anticipates accelerating project field exploration
activity, along with continued detailed assessment of a number of
attractive new projects. Both streams of activity shall focus upon
delivering value to investors in the short and medium term time
frames.
Highlights:
-- Pilot Mountain; Tungsten - first drill program scheduled for
February 2017 is to focus upon both extending high grade
copper-zinc-silver-tungsten mineralisation (17.5m @ 5.7% Cu
equivalent), to complement the existing resource and to confirm
historical mineralisation drilled during the 1970s. Following the
completion of this program, additional follow up drilling is
expected to be scheduled later in 2017.
-- Dundas; Gold - drilling program scheduled for the first half
of 2017 to test previously identified gold anomalies.
-- Spring Hill royalty; Gold - upon the expected completion of
the sale of the Spring Hill project, the value of the royalty
stream becomes more tangible. As the project moves towards
production, the Board will explore all alternatives for early
monetisation of this potentially quite valuable asset.
-- New projects - the Company continues to assess a range of
opportunities for mainstream commodities as well as in tungsten,
including those with potential for near term development. Some of
these have potential to enhance the existing business, while others
are new ventures.
Mr Mick Billing, Executive Chairman of Thor: "We look towards an
exciting and rewarding year in 2017. The initial drilling program
at Pilot Mountain, to commence in February, follows up on known
tungsten mineralisation and potential extensions to the 5.7% Copper
equivalent intersection.
"A new drilling campaign targeting gold mineralisation at Dundas
is eagerly anticipated and planning for this campaign is
progressing well.
"The anticipated completion of sale of the Spring Hill gold
project opens up the possibility of monetising the potentially
significant royalty stream from Spring Hill and we are committed to
exploring all options in this regard.
"Molyhil remains one of Thor's key assets, and we expect to
continue to explore alternatives for increasing the size of
resource and mine life over the year ahead in anticipation of
suitable future market conditions for development.
"Our business development efforts have identified a number of
projects which could well enhance investor value in the short term,
and we will continue to review and appraise these opportunities,
and look to providing advice on these assessments at the first
appropriate opportunity"
Pilot Mountain Tungsten 2017 Program - targeting a significant
resource upgrade
-- Two reverse circulation (RC) drill holes, at Desert
Scheelite, aimed at extending the 5.7% Cu equivalent to the east
and also closer to the surface.
-- Six RC drill holes at Garnet, aimed to twin historical Union
Carbide drill holes, which, if results match reported historical
assays, may allow a resource estimate for portion of that
deposit.
-- Depending upon outcomes of the initial program, further
drilling at Desert Scheelite, Garnet, and other deposits at Gun
Metal and Good Hope, will be scheduled later in 2017.
Thor's Pilot Mountain Project, acquired in 2014, is located
approximately 200 kilometres south of the city of Reno and 20
kilometres east of the town of Mina located on US Highway 95.
The Pilot Mountain Project comprises four tungsten deposits:
Desert Scheelite, Gunmetal, Garnet and Good Hope. All are in close
proximity (three kilometres) to each other and have been subjected
to small-scale mining activities at various times during the 20th
century. Union Carbide acquired the project in 1978, for US$7.0
million (estimated at US$26million - US$40million in 2017 dollars),
and conducted detailed exploration and feasibility activities
until, following a global downturn in the tungsten industry in the
1980s, they suspended further work.
The proposed significant infrastructure works signalled by the
incoming US administration is likely to have a positive impact on
demand for tungsten products, and with no current tungsten mining
operations in the country, Pilot Mountain may be well placed to
fill part of that demand.
A drill program in 2012 at Desert Scheelite facilitated the
estimate & publication of a resource estimate for that deposit,
shown in Table1. Importantly the final hole of the program
intersected 17.5 metres @ 1.80% Copper (Cu) plus 2.2% Zinc (Zn) and
32 g/t Silver (Ag), along with 13.5metres of 0.89% tungsten
trioxide (WO ). At current commodity prices (US$2.66/lb Cu,
US$1.26/lb Zn, US$16.80/oz Ag, and US$200/mtu WO ) this delivers an
equivalent copper grade of 5.7%.
Table 1: Desert Scheelite Resource Summary 2014, (JORC 2012),
announced 10 June 2014.
Desert Resource WO(3) Ag Cu
Scheelite
------------
Tonnes Grade Contained Grade Contained Grade Contained
% metal g/t metal % metal
(t) (t) (t)
------------ ---------- ------ ---------- ------ ---------- ------ ----------
Indicated 6,090,000 0.31 18,900 24.2 150 0.16 10,000
Inferred 700,000 0.30 2,100 9.1 10 0.24 2,000
------------ ---------- ------ ---------- ------ ---------- ------ ----------
Total 6,790,000 0.31 21,000 22.8 160 0.17 12,000
------------ ---------- ------ ---------- ------ ---------- ------ ----------
Notes
-- Thor Mining PLC holds 100% equity interest in this resource.
-- Minor rounding errors may occur in compiled totals.
In addition to the Resource Estimate, Exploration Targets
(summarised in Table 2) have been determined, including 7.5 to 13.5
million tonnes based on extensive drilling undertaken by Union
Carbide Corporation in the 1970s. Even partial success in the
conversion of these targets will add significantly to the project
value.
Table 2: Summary of Pilot Mountain exploration
targets
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnage % WO(3) Comment
(Mt)
------------------- -------- -------- --------------------------
Tier 1 Exploration 7.5 - 0.3 Based on historic
Targets* 13.5 - 0.5 drill intersections
------------------- -------- -------- --------------------------
Tier 2 Exploration 3.5 - 0.3 Based on favourable
Targets* 9.1 - 0.5 geology and proximity
to known mineralisation.
------------------- -------- -------- --------------------------
Total Exploration 11.0 - 0.3 Combined Tier 1 &
Target* 23.0 - 0.5 2
------------------- -------- -------- --------------------------
Tier 1 Exploration Targets* at Pilot Mountain are based on 1970s
drilling undertaken by Union Carbide Corporation and total 7.5 to
13.5 Mt at 0.2 to 0.4% WO(3) (Table 2). The proposed drilling at
Garnet will target conversion to resource of between 1.0 to 2.0Mt
of the total Tier 1 Exploration Target.
*Exploration Targets are conceptual in nature and there has been
insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource under the
JORC Code and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in
the determination of a Mineral Resource.
Dundas Gold 2017 Program
-- Air core (AC) drilling has been scheduled on the identified
gold targets for the first half of 2017.
-- Depending upon outcomes, follow up drilling will be scheduled later in 2017.
The Dundas gold project is located approximately 100 kilometres
east-south-east of Norseman in Western Australia. The project is in
close proximity to the sealed arterial Eyre Highway, providing
all-weather access to the project area. It is also approximately
250 kilometres south of the major regional mining centre of
Kalgoorlie.
A significant calcrete gold geochemical anomaly identified from
infill sampling over two areas, based on previous BHP calcrete
data, has been permitted for drilling.
Molyhil Tungsten 2017 Program
-- The Company will continue ongoing cost and resource
optimisation activities in order that at the first available
opportunity we can access development funding to bring Molyhil into
production.
The 100% owned Molyhil tungsten project is located 220
kilometres north-east of Alice Springs (320km by road) within the
prospective polymetallic province of the Proterozoic Eastern Arunta
Block in the Northern Territory.
In January 2015, Thor announced an updated feasibility study for
its wholly-owned Molyhil tungsten project, with robust
outcomes.
The project development cost for Molyhil is estimated at A$64
million, or US$48 million at current exchange rates. Of this,
approximately US$10 million is for equipment, for which equipment
or leasing finance could be secured, thus reducing the project
finance requirement to below US$40 million.
Molyhil has a forecast 12 month construction schedule from
development commencement to first production.
Summary of Molyhil Mineral Resource Estimate (Reported 30
January 2014)
Classification Resource WO(3) Mo Fe
'000 Grade Tonnes Grade Tonnes Grade
Tonnes % % %
---------------- --------- ----- ------ ----- ------- ------
Indicated 3,820 0.29 10,900 0.13 4,970 18.8
Inferred 890 0.25 2,200 0.14 1,250 15.2
---------------- --------- ----- ------ ----- ------- ------
Total 4,710 0.28 13,100 0.13 6,220 18.1
---------------- --------- ----- ------ ----- ------- ------
Notes
-- Thor Mining PLC holds 100% equity interest in this resource.
-- Mineral Resource reported at 0.1% combined Mo + WO(3) Cut-off and above 200mRL only.
-- Minor rounding errors may occur in compiled totals.
Spring Hill Royalty - Background
In February 2016, Thor announced the sale of its Spring Hill
Gold project(3) for A$3.5million, of which A$1.5m for the Company's
residual 40% interest remains due for settlement in February 2017,
plus a royalty of:
-- A$6 per ounce of gold produced from the Spring Hill tenements
where the gold produced is sold for up to A$1,500 per ounce;
and
-- A$14 per ounce of gold produced from the Spring Hill
tenements where the gold produced is sold for amounts over A$1,500
per ounce. Gold is currently trading for approximately
A$1,610/oz
New Project Assessment
The existing portfolio of projects is very robust and has
substantial development potential; however the directors are
continuing to assess opportunities to acquire interests in several
projects which also have potential for substantial near term
upside, with copper and gold the preferred commodities, as well as
tungsten.
Enquiries:
Mick Billing +61 (8) 7324 Thor Mining PLC Executive
1935 Chairman
Ray Ridge +61 (8) 7324 Thor Mining PLC CFO/Company
1935 Secretary
Colin Aaronson/ +44 (0) 207 Grant Thornton Nominated
Daniel Bush/ 383 5100 UK LLP Adviser
Richard Tonthat
Gerry Beaney/ +44 (0) 20 3861 Northland Capital Joint Broker
David Hignell 6625 Partners Limited
John Howes
Nick Emerson +44 (0) 1483 SI Capital Joint Broker
/ 413 500
Andy Thacker
Tim Blythe/ +44 (0) 207 Blytheweigh Financial
Camilla Horsfall 138 3222 PR
Updates on the Company's activities are regularly posted on
Thor's website www.thormining.com, which includes a facility to
register to receive these updates by email, and on the Company's
twitter page @ThorMining.
Competent Person's Report
The information in this report that relates to exploration
results is based on information compiled by Richard Bradey, who
holds a BSc in applied geology and an MSc in natural resource
management and who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Bradey is an employee of Thor Mining PLC.
He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the
activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person
as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for
Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore
Reserves'. Richard Bradey consents to the inclusion in the report
of the matters based on his information in the form and context in
which it appears.
About Thor Mining PLC
Thor Mining PLC is a resources company quoted on the AIM Market
of the London Stock Exchange and on ASX in Australia.
Thor holds 100% of the advanced Molyhil tungsten project in the
Northern Territory of Australia, for which an updated feasibility
study in 2015(1) suggested attractive returns. Thor also holds 100%
of the Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada USA which has a
JORC 2012 Indicated Resources Estimate(2) on 1 of the 4 known
deposits.
In February 2016, Thor announced the sale of its Spring Hill
Gold project(3) for A$3.5million, of which A$1.5 remains due for
settlement in February 2017, plus a royalty of:
-- A$6 per ounce of gold produced from the Spring Hill tenements
where the gold produced is sold for up to A$1,500 per ounce;
and
-- A$14 per ounce of gold produced from the Spring Hill
tenements where the gold produced is sold for amounts over A$1,500
per ounce.
Notes
-- (1) Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 12 January 2015
-- (2) Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 10 June 2014
-- (3) Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 29 February 2016
-- At the date of this announcement gold is trading at approximately A$1,610/oz
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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