The Board of Thor Mining (LON:THR) advised of an update to the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Company’s flagship Molyhil project in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Highlights
· The Molyhil Mineral Resource now comprises Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources of 4.7 million tonnes at 0.28% WO₃ (Tungsten trioxide), 0.14% Mo (Molybdenum), 0.05% Cu (Copper), and 18.0% Fe (Iron) (above a cut-off grade of 0.12% WO3 equivalent) (Refer to Table A below);
· The revised resource estimate increases contained WO₃ by 1.5% , and contained Mo by 9.3% compared with the previous estimate;
· The Mineral Resource, is further boosted with the inclusion of copper in the resource inventory, contributing an additional potential by-product stream for the project;
· Metallurgical process test work has demonstrated the capacity to produce a separate copper concentrate from Molyhil ore with minimal additional cost.
Mr Mick Billing, Executive Chairman, commented:
“This revised Mineral Resource Estimate is a welcome boost for the Molyhil project with a 1.5% increment in contained tungsten metal along with a very impressive 9.3% increase in contained molybdenum.”
“The inclusion of copper in the Molyhil Mineral Resource further enhances the potential of this project as we work toward a project financing package for Molyhil”.
“While the copper grades in the Molyhil Mineral Resource are modest, the copper minerals are extracted as a by-product of the molybdenum and other sulphide products flotation stage without additional reagent addition, and virtually therefore at no additional cost”.
In recognition of consistent recoveries of copper in process testwork on Molyhil ore samples, Thor Mining commissioned mining consultants RPM Global to review the Mineral resource Estimate for Molyhil to establish if the resource estimate could be augmented accordingly. The revised estimate is based upon no new sample data other than for these historical copper intersections.
The Mineral Resource for the Molyhil deposit is reported at a cut-off grade of 0.12% tungsten equivalent and above an elevation of 200m RL as at 18th September, 2019. Readers should note that the Mineral Resource has an applied grade adjustment factor for the RC drilling assays. The adjustment factor is supported by review of RC tungsten and molybdenum assays compared to underground bulk samples, diamond core samples and recent metallurgical hole core samples.
Although the adjustment factor has been applied, the reader should note there are a number of risks associated with it that should be further investigated and their impact reduced or mitigated before proceeding with classification of confidence categories higher than an Indicated Mineral Resource, any higher confidence economic evaluation of the deposit or progression to a feasibility study.
Thor Mining plc is an AIM listed mining company with tungsten and copper projects in Australia and the USA. Metal Tiger plc (LON:MTR) had an investment of 51,350,000 ordinary shares at 31 December 2017 representing 8% of the issued ordinary share capital of Thor Mining.
