Thor Produces Over 19,000 Ounces of Gold in 2023
By Patience Chat Moses
Thor Explorations has provided an operational and financial review for its Segilola Gold Mine, located in Nigeria, and for the company’s other mineral exploration properties in Nigeria and Senegal up to September 30, 2023.
According to the report, the company also recorded progress with pre-feasibility study work streams with an expected completion for Q1 2024 Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, which is ongoing.
Thor Explorations is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. It holds a 100 percent interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State, Nigeria and has a 70 percent economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in South-Eastern Senegal.
Giving the Operational Highlights for Q3 2023, in a report made available to Valuechain, the company recorded a total Gold production of 19,021 ounces and a focus of gold exploration activities within a 25-kilometer radius from the Segilola operations. It also reported the continuation of reverse circulation drilling, stream sediment sampling at the Kola Prospect, 23 kilometers south of Segilola, and a continuation of diamond drilling on identified high-grade quartz-vein style mineralization at Aye-Ile prospect, which is located 15 kilometers west of Segilola, with several narrow high-grade intersections drilled.
Also, at Thor Lithium Exploration at Oyo Project, location 6, a total of 77 RC drill holes, totaling 4,585 metres were drilled with significant intersections previously reported, including 11m grading 1.53% lithium oxide (“Li2O”), 9m grading 2.42% Li2O and 11m grading 2.61% Li2O.
Regional soil geochemical surveys also commenced with an additional tenure obtained at both the Oyo and Ekiti Project Areas. The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is ongoing and metallurgical test work is continuing at IMO Laboratory in Perth, Western Australia.
Thor Explorations also installed two weather stations at Segilola to assist with accurate climate database and Mine planning, as well as continuous progression of livelihood restoration programmes to individuals affected locally within the Segilola Mine footprint through community projects undertaken by Africa Star Resources team in Senegal, including improvements of local school toilet facilities, clearing wasteland at local cemetery and providing a generator for the local Police station.
Speaking in respect to gold production in the year, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company, Segun Lawson, said “our Q3 2023 gold production of 19,104oz is in-line with our August guidance update of 85,000oz for the full year 2023.
“We are pleased to have achieved this and to have completed the pushback of the west wall which means that the pit conditions have significantly improved. We are now well positioned to mine more flexibly and efficiently going forwards.”
“In terms of financial performance, whilst the lower grades have led to lower revenue and profits in the quarter, we have maintained good levels of positive cash flow. We anticipate a stronger financial performance in the final quarter as the Mine grade increases,” he added.
Lawson stated that the resource drilling at our Douta gold project in Senegal, which was targeting the higher-grade zones of the inferred resource, has been completed and final assays are pending.
He added that the Company’s process plant continues to perform above design capacity and that upgrades to the process plant leaching and electrowinning circuits are being phased-in over Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, which are expected to result in a release of gold-in-circuit and increased plant recoveries from December 2023, continuing throughout 2024.
“We have made early progress at our West Oyo Lithium Project in Nigeria, with an encouraging initial set of drilling results. We have been able to confirm and delineate lithium-bearing mineralisation, with spodumene confirmed as the primary lithium-bearing mineral. Our plan is to expand our drilling program to the other pegmatites across our permits and expect to receive further results in Q4 2023,” Lawson concluded.
Giving the Exploration Activity Summary for the Q3 2023, the company explained that Segilola Mine exploration continued as a priority for the Group in 2023 and that the Group also completed its field exploration activities at the Douta Project in Senegal and is now completing various work streams for the Douta Preliminary Feasibility Study.
The Group continued to expand its portfolio in Nigeria through the acquisition of additional pegmatite bearing lithium licenses in various locations by entering into joint venture agreements with existing license holders.
The report further indicated that the majority of the exploration activities carried out on all the Group’s licenses, consisted of reverse circulation drilling, diamond drilling, geochemical stream sediment sampling, auger drilling and soil sampling.
In Senegal, the Group’s Douta Project encompasses a mineral resource of 1.78 million ounces of gold. As part of its strategy of identifying high-value mineral resource opportunities, Thor, through its fully owned subsidiary Newstar Minerals Limited has continued to carry out drilling activities on its West Oyo Lithium project. However, the drilling program was interrupted due to heavy rains in Oyo, delaying the drill results to Q4 2023.
