DOUTA PROJECT MAIDEN MRE AND MANSA DISCOVERY

RNS Number : 7336S

Thor Explorations Ltd

18 November 2021

 

NEWS RELEASE

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR
DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. WIRE SERVICES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   TSXV / AIM: THX

November 18, 2021

Vancouver, British Columbia

MAIDEN MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE AND MANSA DISCOVERY DRILLING RESULTS DECLARED FOR THE DOUTA GOLD PROJECT, SENEGAL

For Full Release Including Figures Follow the Link Here: 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7336S_1-2021-11-17.pdf

Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSX VENTURE/AIM: THX) ("Thor" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an initial NI 43-101 standard Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Makosa Deposit which is located in the southern portion of the Douta Gold Project in Senegal.

Highlights:

- Maiden Resource Estimate for Douta Project is supported by a total of 35,728 metres of drilling

- Maiden Resource of 730,000 ounces of gold grading at 1.5g/tAu

- Mineralisation at Makosa remains open along strike with further growth potential 

- New mineralised discovery at the Mansa Prospect located 5km along strike from Makosa

The MRE is classified as Inferred Resources and is constrained within optimised pit shells and comprises 15.3 million tonnes grading 1.5 grammes per tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au") for 730,000 ounces of gold.

The Company is also pleased to announce that exploration drilling at the Mansa Prospect, which is located 5km along strike from Makosa, resulted in encouraging drilling intersections including 4 metres ("m") grading 3.11 g/t Au, 5m grading 1.75g/t Au and 2m grading 10.65g/t Au.

The Makosa MRE encompasses the Makosa, Makosa North and Makosa Tail zones, which all remain open along strike and down dip, and are expected to grow with ongoing drilling either along strike or at depth.

The MRE provides a foundation for continued resource growth along strike to the north from Makosa North together with the satellite deposits, including the newly discovered Mansa, that are currently being assessed along the 30 kilometre long Makosa gold corridor.

Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated

"The Makosa Maiden Resource Estimate is the Company's first major milestone at the Douta Project. The resource is the culmination of the first round of mostly wide-spaced exploration drilling conducted over a strike length of over seven kilometres. This provides for a solid growth platform for Thor following the greenfield discoveries of Makosa and Makosa Tail in 2018 and 2020 respectively.

"We are now focussing our exploration towards expanding the resource along the prospective corridor that runs along the full 30km length of our exploration licence. Priority will be given to extensional drilling at Makosa North where the mineralisation remains open-ended towards the north-east.

"We are equally excited with the first drilling results from our new greenfield discovery Mansa which is located on the same structure as Makosa. In addition to undertaking definition drilling at Mansa the 5km gap between Makosa North and Mansa will also be targeted in our next drilling program."

About Thor

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State of Nigeria and a 70% interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal. Thor trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".

THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.
Segun Lawson
President & CEO

Qualified Person
The above information relating to the resource estimate has been prepared by Mr Babacar Diouf (MSc Queens University, Ontario, M.AusIMM, Member Association des Ingenieurs Geologues sortant de I'IST(AGIST), Principal Geologist of Azimuth Consulting Senegal, who is responsible for this Mineral Resource statement and is an "Independent Qualified Person" as defined in NI43-101 and is a qualified person under the AIM Rules and has reviewed and approves the content of this news release.

The information relating to exploration results has been prepared under the supervision of Alfred Gillman (Fellow AusIMM, CP), who is designated as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 and the AIM Rules and has reviewed and approves the content of this news release. He has also reviewed QA/QC, sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014 .

For further information please contact:

Thor Explorations Ltd

Email: [e-mail]  

Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Thomas Diehl

Tel: [phone]

Hannam & Partners (Broker)

Andrew Chubb / Matt Hasson / Nilesh Patel / Franck Nganou

Tel: [phone]

Fig House Communications (Investor Relations)

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]  

Blytheweigh (Financial PR) 

Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Rachael Brooks

Tel: [phone]

Introduction

The Douta Gold Project is a gold exploration permit, E02038, which covers an area of 58 square kilometres ("km²") and is located within the Kéniéba inlier, eastern Senegal. The northeast trending permit (Figure 1) has an area of 58 km². Thor, through its wholly owned subsidiary African Star Resources Incorporated ("African Star"), has a 70% economic interest in partnership with the permit holder International Mining Company SARL ("IMC"). IMC has a 30% free carried interest in its development until the announcement by Thor of a Probable Reserve.

The Douta licence is strategically positioned 4km east of the deposits Massawa North and Massawa Central deposits which form part of the world class Sabadola-Massawa Project that is owned by Endeavour Mining (Figure 1). The Makabingui deposit, belonging to Bassari Resources Ltd, is located immediately to the east of the northern portion of E02038.

Figure 1: Douta Project Location Map

Mineral Resource Estimate

Summary

Thor is pleased to declare an initial resource estimate  (MRE) of 15 million tonnes ("Mt") grading 1.53g/t Au for 730,000 ounces gold in the Inferred category at the Douta Gold Project in eastern Senegal. The MRE encompasses the Makosa, Makosa North and Makosa Tail zones, which are collectively named the Makosa Resource.

The MRE has been estimated by an independent consultant and is reported at a cut-off grade of 0.3g/t Au within optimised shells using a gold price of US$2,200.

Deposit	Classification	Tonnage	Grade	Contained Metal	Thor Interest (70%)
		Mt	Au g/t	koz Au	koz Au
Makosa	Inferred	11.7	1.5	550	385
Makosa Tail	Inferred	3.6	1.6	180	126
Total Makosa	Inferred	15.3	1.5	730	511

Table 1: Douta Gold Project Mineral Resource Estimate, November 2021 (reported at cut-off grade of 0.3g/t Au)

· Open Pit Mineral Resources are reported in situ at a cut-off grade of 0.30 g/t Au. An optimised Whittle shell ($2,200) was used to constrain the resources.

· The Mineral Resource is considered to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction by open pit mining methods above a 0.30 g/t Au and within an optimised pit shell.

· Metallurgical and mining recovery factors not applied.

· Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

· Totals may not add exactly due to rounding.

· The statement used the terminology, definitions and guidelines given in the CIM Standards on Mineral resources and Mineral Reserves (May 2014) as required by NI 43-101.

· Bulk density is assigned according to weathering profile with a weighted average of 2.78.

· Mr B. Diouf (CP), Principal Geologist of Azimuth Consulting Senegal, is responsible for this Mineral Resource statement and is an "Independent Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101. · Mr Diouf has undertaken several site visits during the course of the resource drilling and is satisfied that industry-standard sampling and QAQC procedures have been followed.

Drilling

Thor completed a total of 37,665m of drilling consisting of 1,937m of diamond drilling and 35,728m of Reverse Circulation ("RC") drilling which have been used to generate the updated MRE. RC drilling was carried out by International Drilling Company (2017), Sendrill Consulting (2018) and Sengold (2020-2021), while historic diamond drilling was carried out by ADS (2012).

Sample Analysis and Database

Drilling has been almost exclusively sampled on 1m intervals with the primary laboratory for analysis being ALS Global's laboratory in Bamako, Mali. Split samples ranging in weight from 0.5 kilogrammes ("kg") to 3.5kg, with an average of 2.3kg were collected for analysis. After the sample preparation analysis, a fire assay with an atomic absorption finish on a 50 grammes ("g") subsample of the pulp (AA26), was completed umpire samples were submitted to the MSA laboratory in Abidjan.

Standard QA/QC protocols were followed with inserts of certified standards, blanks and duplicates representing approximately 10% of all analyses.

The Company's database is maintained internally with independent audits carried out by Cube Consulting (Perth) on request.

Mineral Resource Estimation

A two-pass ordinary kriged grade estimation was carried out within hard geological boundaries defined by a nominal modelling grade cut off of 0.5g/tAu. Twenty two individual veins for Makosa/Makosa North and 16 veins for Makosa Tail were created and  then combined into a single domain for Makosa/Makosa North and a single domain for Makosa Tail.

A weathering model was developed so bulk densities could be assigned according to weathering state.

The tonnage factor in the block models was determined by assigning the bulk densities to the following material types:

· 2.70 t/m3 for Fresh (FRS),

· 2.65 t/m3 for weakly oxidized (WOX),

· 2.50 t/m3 for moderately oxidized (MOX), and 

· 2.40 t/m3 for strongly oxidized (SOX).

At this stage of the project, it is appropriate that blocks within the Makosa mineralised zones have the same average bulk densities as the blocks within the Makosa waste zones. 

Exploratory Data Analysis and Top Cut Selection

Prior to selecting the composite length, the average sample length was determined. The majority (91%) of the samples are 1.0m long, thus a 1m composite length was adopted.

Statistical analysis was completed on assay values composited to 1m and extracted from within the mineralised zone domains for the two prospect areas, with a top cut (cap) being selected to reduce the influence of any 'outlier' high grades.

Globally, a total of 1,879 composites were included in the database for top capping analysis. At Makosa Main, seven (7) composite gold values that exceeded 15g/t were reduced to 15g/t. At Makosa Tail, three (3) Composite gold values that exceeded 30g/t were reduced to 30g/t. Gold composite values below were unchanged. The effect of the application of the top cuts is summarised in Table 3.

At Makosa, the top capping reduced the average mean grade from 1.31g/t Au to 1.27g/t Au.

At Makosa Tail, the top capping reduced the average mean grade from 1.64g/t Au to 1.51g/t Au.

Domain	No of Composites	Maximum Au (g/t)	Mean Au (g/t)	Top Cut Au (g/t)	Capped Mean Au (g/t)	No of Composites affected	% Metal
Makosa	1401	38.6	1.31	15	1.27	7	-3%
Makosa Tail	478	57.9	1.64	15	1.51	3	-8%
Total	1879	57.90	1.39		1.330	10	-4%

Table 3: Composite statistics and effect of top cut on contained metal

Estimation Methodology

Variography was carried out on each combined domain with the appropriate parameters used to estimate the gold grade using Ordinary Kriging (OK). Due to the difference in orientation between Makosa Tail and Makosa/Makosa North two separate blocks were created to better align blocks with the orientation of the lode systems.

Block estimation used a two-pass strategy with the number of required samples (2 to 20) maintained in each pass, and search distance increased for the second estimation pass.

Kriging statistics (estimated grade, kriging efficiency, conditional bias slope, average distance to samples) were then plotted against the number of informing samples to optimise the outcomes. This was done primarily to avoid local conditional biases (too few samples) and over-smoothing (too many samples) of the estimated grade.

Mineral Resource Constraints

To test the reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, the Makosa Mineral Resource is constrained by an optimised pit shell (revenue factor of 1) defined by the parameters shown in Table 4.

A cross-section showing the pit shell in relation to the mineral resource at Makosa Tail is illustrated in Figure 3.

Parameter			Unit
SOX	Strongly oxidised: 4% of the resource	45	degrees
MOX	Medium oxidised: 6% of the resource	45	degrees
WOX	Weakly oxidised: 4% of the resource	50	degrees
Fresh	Fresh Rock and sulphides: 86% of the resource	58	degrees
Mining Cost
- Load and Haul	US$1.2/t @ surface, increase $0.1/t per 5m bench	1.2	$/t
D&B - SOX	2.60 Total cost $/t	2.6	$/t
D&B - MOX/WOX	3.10 Total cost $/t	3.1	$/t
D&B - Fresh	4.00 Total cost $/t	4	$/t
Total		10.9	$/t
Mining Recovery		95	%
Mining Dilution		5	%
Processing Cost
- Variable Cost	power, reagents, consumables, direct labour costs	16	$/t ore
- G&A + overheads		5.5	$/t ore
- Grade Control	blast hole sampling/gc program	0.5	$/t ore
- Ore Mining	Included in Mining Cost		$/t ore
Total		22	$/t
Process Recovery
SOX		90	%
MOX		90	%
WOX		90	%
Fresh		88	%
Product Sell Price	Multiple gold prices to be run	$2,200	US$/oz
Sell Price		$70.73	US$/t
Discount Rate		8	%
Mill Limit		2.5	Mill Mt/pa

Table 4: Open Pit Optimisation Parameters

Classification

Drill hole density ranges from 50m to 200m spaced sections with spacing between holes on-section typically 30m (refer Figure 2). Notwithstanding the demonstrated geological continuity over a 7km strike length, the classification as 100% Inferred Resources is considered appropriate for the current level of understanding and development of the Mineral Resource.

Figure 2: Makosa Drillhole Location Plan

Metallurgical Factors

Thor has submitted metallurgical samples to ALS (Perth) and preliminary recovery results indicate that oxide material may be recovered by normal gravity/CIL methods whereas the fresh material is refractory to partially refractory and may be recovered by either Biological Oxidation (BIOX) or Pressure Oxidation (POX) methods. Ongoing metallurgical test work is focussed on achieving the optimal operational flow sheet for the fresh material.

The initial metallurgical results at Makosa are comparable to those reported from initial test work at the Massawa deposit which is located 4km to the west and which is owned by Endeavour Mining. Following exhaustive metallurgical testing the optimal laboratory flow sheet for Massawa achieved recoveries of 88% for fresh (refractory to partially refractory) using a BIOX processing route and 90% for oxide to transitional.

Until a representative number of samples has been fully tested using optimal recovery techniques Thor has adopted similar recovery factors used at Massawa.

This is considered appropriate for the current level of classification and understanding of the Mineral Resource.

Environmental Factors

No impediments with respect to reserves, parks or other areas of significance have been identified on the project area. The Douta exploration licence consists of a modified environment as a result of human activities including harvesting forest flora and burning vegetation as part of sporadic and unregulated historic artisanal mining activity. There are no settlements within the licence boundary.

Thor abide by the Senegal 2016 Mining Code which introduced an obligation for mining title-holders to contribute annually to a local development fund in the amount of 0.5% of sales, minus annual fees. Under the 2016 Code, mining projects require a prior environmental impact assessment, to be approved by the Directorate of the Environment and Classified Establishments.

To gain initial environmental baseline information within the Douta exploration licence a dry season ecology survey was undertaken in May 2021 by Senegal-based Synergie Afrique - a registered environment consultancy in Senegal. The survey will form part of the overall Environment and Impact Assessment ("EIA") which is expected to be completed in 18 months. It is planned to undertake a wet season ecology survey in the near future when the ephemeral streams are running.

Figure 3: Cross Section through Makosa Tail

 

Exploration Upside: Mansa Prospect Exploration Results

Geology

The Mansa Prospect is located 5km along strike to the northeast from Makosa. The exploratory RC drilling programme comprised 31 holes totalling 2,405m and tested anomalous zones as defined by the regional auger geochemical survey completed in 2020.  Significant intersections are listed in Table 5 and located in Figure 4. Drill samples were analysed by ALS laboratories in Mali using the AA26 fire assay method (50g charge).

This initial RC programme focussed on the zone from surface to a vertical depth of about 60m, and although this initial drill coverage wide-spaced with drill sections spaced between 200m and 400m apart, the results have confirmed primary gold mineralisation associated with two parallel zones suggested by the geochemical data.

The geological setting of Mansa is similar to that of Makosa with mineralisation hosted by deformed sedimentary rocks near the contact with gabbro or volcaniclastics. Gold mineralisation appears to be controlled by the northeast trending brittle-ductile shear zones that dips steeply towards the northwest. Grade and thickness variations occur along with the shear zone.

HOLE-ID	Easting	Northing	Elevation	Length (m)	From  (m)	To  (m)	Interval  (m)	Grade (g/tAu)	True Width (m)
DTRC339	181675	1442731	200	90	56	58	2	10.65	1.8
DTRC341	181929	1442998	200	78	5	7	2	1.35	1.6
DTRC345	181247	1443265	200	90	46	49	3	1.08	2.7
DTRC346	181415	1443389	200	70	20	28	8	0.72	7.0
DTRC346				and	29	31	2	0.53	1.8
DTRC347	181393	1443404	200	90	48	53	5	1.75	4.5
DTRC349	181563	1443527	200	84	44	51	7	0.88	6.4
DTRC354	181798	1443855	200	81	39	41	2	1.58	1.8
DTRC363	182618	1443983	200	70	55	59	4	3.11	3.6

Table 5: Mansa Significant Results

(0.5g/t Au lower cut off; maximum 2m internal dilution)

Figure 4: Mansa Drillhole Location Map

The initial exploration results from Mansa indicate the occurrence of gold mineralisation over a wide area measuring approximately 800m wide and 2,000m along strike.

The best results, including 4m grading 3.11g/t Au from 55m, were returned from drillhole DTRC363 which is located on the eastern shear zone in the northern portion completed of the drilling coverage. There is very little drilling over the eastern shear zone which appears to have been intersected in hole DTRC339, located 2km to the southwest from DTRC363 and intersected 2m at 10.65g/t Au from 56m.

Ongoing Exploration

Thor intends to progress the Makosa Resource expansion drilling together with parallel workstreams including detailed metallurgical sampling and testing, environmental and social baseline monitoring as part of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, geotechnical and hydrological studies.

The main resource expansion priorities are:

1.  Extensional drilling northwards from the Makosa Resource that will bridge the gap between Makosa and Mansa prospect.

2.  Infill and resource definition drilling at Mansa Prospect.

3.  Continue exploration northwards from Mansa.

The broad Project-level objectives are:

· To upgrade the Inferred Resource to a sufficient inventory of material in the Indicated Resource category so that preliminary mining studies can be undertaken.

· To identify higher grade mineralisation in the oxide zone that can be upgraded. to Indicated Resources as a priority.

· Continued drilling to increase the overall resource base through extensional drilling along the prospective corridor.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release does not constitute an offer to purchase securities. The securities to be offered in the offering have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the benefit or account of, a U.S. person, except pursuant to an available exemption from such registration requirements.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented constitutes "forward looking statements" within the meaning of certain securities laws, and is subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions  that could cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially form the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the Company's ability to fully finance the Project, to bring the Project into operation or to produce gold from the Project, and the use of the proceeds.  The words "may", "could", "should", "would", "suspect", "outlook", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "target" and similar words and expressions are used to identify forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this news release describes the Company's expectations as of the date of this news release and accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time.

 

Appendix 1

Mansa Drillhole Data

HOLE-ID	Easting	Northing	Elevation	Length (m)	Azimuth	Dip	From  (m)	To  (m)	Interval  (m)	Grade (g/tAu)	True Width (m)
DTRC338	181698	1442712	200	70	130	-50				NSR
DTRC339	181675	1442731	200	90	130	-50	56	58	2	10.65	1.8
DTRC340	181913	1443015	200	96	130	-50				NSR
DTRC341	181929	1442998	200	78	130	-50	5	7	2	1.35	1.6
DTRC342	181181	1443070	200	66	130	-50				NSR
DTRC343	181158	1443089	200	102	130	-50				NSR
DTRC344	181272	1443248	200	69	120	-50				NSR
DTRC345	181247	1443265	200	90	120	-50	46	49	3	1.08	2.7
DTRC346	181415	1443389	200	70	120	-50	20	28	8	0.72	7.0
DTRC346			200			and	29	31	2	0.53	1.8
DTRC347	181393	1443404	200	90	120	-50	48	53	5	1.75	4.5
DTRC348	181587	1443507	200	66	120	-50				NSR
DTRC349	181563	1443527	200	84	120	-50	44	51	7	0.88	6.4
DTRC350	181752	1443629	200	70	120	-50				NSR
DTRC351	181721	1443655	200	68	120	-50				NSR
DTRC352	181687	1443686	200	88	120	-50				NSR
DTRC353	181829	1443824	200	75	120	-50				NSR
DTRC354	181798	1443855	200	81	120	-50	39	41	2	1.58	1.8
DTRC355	181764	1443878	200	66	120	-50				NSR
DTRC356	181898	1444026	200	70	120	-50				NSR
DTRC357	181876	1444040	200	90	120	-50				NSR
DTRC358	183007	1444236	200	66	130	-50				NSR
DTRC359	182989	1444251	200	114	130	-50				NSR
DTRC360	182690	1444186	200	60	130	-50				NSR
DTRC361	182664	1444209	200	66	130	-50				NSR
DTRC362	182635	1444234	200	102	130	-50				NSR
DTRC363	182618	1443983	200	70	130	-50	55	59	4	3.11	3.6
DTRC364	182584	1444008	200	66	130	-50				NSR
DTRC365	182555	1444034	200	72	130	-50				NSR
DTRC366	182524	1444058	200	78	130	-50				NSR
DTRC367	182495	1444082	200	66	130	-50				NSR
DTRC368	182466	1444106	200	66	130	-50				NSR

 

END

 

 

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