By Yange Ikyaa
Thor Explorations Limited on Monday, July 11 announced an operational update for its Segilola Gold Mine located in Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria for the three months of Q2 2022 up to June 30.
The operational highlights for the period under review show that 23,785 ounces (“oz”) of gold was produced, with zero lost time injuries recorded. Furthermore, after commissioning its newly acquired compressed natural gas (“CNG”) generators, the company repaid a senior debt facility tranche of $14.5 million, reducing its senior debt facility profile to $38 million.
Thor Explorations is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. The company holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State, Nigeria, and has a 70% economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in South-Eastern Senegal. It trades on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “THX”.
Outlook for Thor Explorations dealings show that guidance for Q3 2022 is put at from 23,000 to 25,000 ounces of gold, while full year production guidance for 2022 has been narrowed to 85,000 from 100,000 ounces of gold. The company however places the “All In Sustaining Cost” (AISC) for full year 2022 at $850 to $950 per ounce of gold.
Commenting on this development, Segun Lawson, who is the President and CEO of Thor, said “we remain very pleased by the Company’s operational performance, which continues to improve in all areas month on month. Q2 2022 gold production is up 11% on Q1 2022, returning a total of 45,128 ounces of gold produced in the first half of the year.
“The Company also repaid US$14.5 million of its Senior Debt Facility in the period and has now reduced the facility by 29% at the end of the first half of the year.
“In the period, we commissioned a total of 6MW of CNG generating capacity which enables us to run the processing operations fully on CNG produced from Nigerian oil and gas operations. In doing so, we significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, providing end user value addition for domestic gas production and lowering our operating costs.
“We anticipate continued improvements in our operations and production and have narrowed our full year guidance as a result.”
Production Summary:
| Units | Q2 2022 | Q1 2022 | |
| Mining | |||
| Total Mined | tonnes | 4,031,584 | 3,759,524 |
| Waste Mined | tonnes | 3,747,504 | 3,533,610 |
| Ore Mined | tonnes | 284,079 | 226,314 |
| Ore Mined Gold Grade | g/t Au | 3.63 | 2.68 |
| Ore Stockpiled | tonnes | 249,281 | 179,758 |
| Ore Stockpiled | g/t Au | 1.46 | 1.23 |
| Ore Processed | tonnes | 211,582 | 221,900 |
| Ore Processed Gold Grade | g/t Au | 3.66 | 3.18 |
| Processing | |||
| Ore Milled | tonnes | 211,583 | 221,920 |
| Daily Throughput Rate (average) | tpd | 2,784 | 2,760 |
| Daily Throughput / Nameplate Capacity | % | 141% | 128% |
| Ore Processed | |||
| Recovery | % | 95.5 | 94.1 |
| Gold Recovered | oz | 23,785 | 21,343 |
