Last checked at 20 Nov 2012 07:00
THOR MINING PLC
RESOURCE INCREASE TO 450,000oz
SPRING HILL GOLD PROJECT - NORTHERN TERRITORY
Dated: 20 November 2012
The Directors of Thor Mining PLC ("Thor" or the "Company") (AIM, ASX: THR), wish to advise that a revised resource estimate has increased the contained gold resource for the Spring Hill gold project south of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory.
The latest Spring Hill resource comprises 10 Million tonnes at 1.4 grams per tonne for 450,000 contained ounces of gold (cutoff grade of 0.5g/t) or 4 Mt at 2.3 g/t (cutoff grade 1.0g/t), summarised in Table 1. It was compiled following the recent completion by Thor of a drilling program at Spring Hill - part of an earn-in work program that now delivers Thor a majority 51% ownership of the project under its planned acquisition of an 80% interest.
Table 1: Summary of Spring Hill Resource estimate:
The entire resource is classified as Indicated.
Spring Hill Resource Estimate* - Nov 2012 | ||||
Cutoff (g/t Au) | Tonnage(Mt) | Grade(g/t Au) | Contained Gold(000 oz) ** | |
0.5 | 10.0 | 1.40 | 450 | |
1.0 | 4.0 | 2.32 | 300 | |
*All classified as Indicated | ||||
** Thor Mining PLC holds equity rights to 80% of this resource
The update represents an 11% increase in tonnes and a 9.5% increase in contained metal over the previous estimate completed in 2003 (Table 2).
The resource estimate (Table 1) is constrained to within approximately 150 metres of the ground surface which is considered by the estimator to be the maximum depth of economic open cut mine extraction. Further evaluation work will be undertaken to more accurately determine the maximum depth of economic open cut mining.
Further details associated with the resource estimate, including estimation methodology, will be released when available from the author.
The increase in resource (Table 2) is considered very encouraging for the project as drilling since 2003 has targeted mineralisation at depths generally greater than 150 metres.
Table 2: Summary of change - Spring Hill gold resource (1.0g/t cutoff):
2012 Estimate | 2003 Estimate | ||
Total resource (000t) | 4,000 | 3,600 | 11% increase |
Gold grade (g/t) | 2.32 | 2.34 | |
Contained gold (000 oz)¹ | 300 | 274 | 9.5% increase |
Vertical Limit of resource | 150 metres | 150 metres | Resource open at depth |
Next Steps
The project area remains highly prospective for additional near surface mineralisation including;
·; previously identified satellite targets, and
·; new targets identified from evaluation of recently flown high resolution aeromagnetic (helimag) data.
Low cost percussion drilling is likely to be utilised for first pass testing of these targets, scheduled for the 2013 dry season.
Development evaluation options are also being assessed.
Satellite Targets
Partially drilled mineralisation in several locations proximal to the main Spring Hill resource such as this high grade intercepts from Ross Mining/Billiton JV drilling undertaken in 1989-92.
Historic drill intercepts
SHRC181 | 26m @2.56g/t from 59m - (0.1g/t cutoff) |
including: | 16m @ 4.0g/t from 63m - and (0.5g/t cutoff) |
SHRC182 | 6m @ 0.26g/t from 0m - (0.1g/t cutoff) |
and: | 13m @ 0.77g/t from 26m - (0.1g/t cutoff) |
including: | 7m @ 1.13g/t from 29m - (0.5g/t cutoff) |
Commenting, Mr Mick Billing, Executive Chairman of Thor Mining, said,
"We are delighted with this increase in gold resource and the potential for future growth at Spring Hill. We are focussed on continuing to build the project's resource inventory, as well as investigating economic options for profitable mine development. We have more targets to test in a region of proven economic gold endowment."
Thor holds 25% of the Spring Hill project and is pursuing the staged acquisition of an 80% interest from Western Desert Resources Ltd (WDR). Thor has completed the exploration expenditure obligation necessary to enable the acquisition of an additional 26% of the Spring Hill project to 51%, as part of this staged acquisition. It is expected that transfer documents will be provided to the Northern Territory Department of Resources by WDR in coming weeks.
Enquiries:
Mick Billing | +61 (8) 7324 1935
| Thor Mining PLC | Executive Chairman |
Allan Burchard | +61 (8) 7324 1935
| Thor Mining PLC | CFO/Company Secretary |
Gerry Beaney/ David Hignell | +44 (0) 207 383 5100
| Grant Thornton Corporate Finance
| Nominated Adviser |
Nick Emerson/ Renato Rufus | +44 (0) 1483 413500 | Simple Investments | Broker |
Alex Walters/ Lavinia Fiamma | +44 (0) 7771 713608 +44 (0) 207 839 9260 | Cadogan PR | Financial 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.
Competent Person statement -
The information in this report that relates to the Spring Hill Mineral Resource is based on information compiled by Diederik Speijers who is a Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Speijers is the principal of consulting firm McDonald Speijers. 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 2004 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Diederik Speijers consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.
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 2004 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.