Quarterly Report - December 2

RNS Number : 4832M

Thor Mining PLC

30 January 2009

 

THOR MINING PLC

QUARTERLY REPORT - DECEMBER 2008

Dated: 30 January 2009

Thor Mining PLC ('the Company' or 'Thor'), AIM, ASX: 'THR' the specialist metals company focused on advancing tungsten-molybdenum and uranium projects in the Northern Territory of Australia, today released its quarterly report for the period to 31 December 2008.

MOLYHIL TUNGSTEN-MOLYBDENUM DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

• Development of the project and in particular financing still continues to be of high priority. Efforts to secure finance via a variety of means are continuing with global focus.

• Investigation of alternatives to reduce capital and operating costs for the project continue.

• The last quarter has seen the dramatic fall in the selling price of Molybdenum Roasted Concentrates from US$32/lb to the steady state of US$10/lb. The selling prices of Tungsten APT have remained steady between US$235/mtu and US$245/mtu during the same period. The outlook for both commodities continues to be optimistic with increased demand expected in the coming year.

• The metallurgical test work on the suitability of the magnetite concentrate for various applications is ongoing with positive early results and encouraging feedback from potential customers.

EXPLORATION PROJECTS

• Drilling commenced in January 2009 to investigate various induced polarisation anomalies 150 metres north of the existing pit.

• Encouraging assays from the uranium exploration program were received in October.

CORPORATE

• Subsequent to the end of the quarter 22 million shares were placed with a number of UK based entities at a price of 1p per share, raising $477,000 before expenses.

• Following completion of the placing, cash reserves are AUS$1.6million.

• Thor has moved its Australian registered office to Adelaide along with its three wholly owned subsidiaries. The Perth based operations team have moved to a smaller office as a means of conserving cash. It is envisaged that the operational functions of this office will migrate to the Adelaide office in early 2009.

MOLYHIL TUNGSTEN - MOLYBDENUM PROJECT

The Molyhil Tungsten-Molybdenum Project (Molyhil Project) is a proposed open cut mine and processing facility to be constructed in the Northern Territory. The main objective of the proposed facility is to produce scheelite, molybdenite and magnetite concentrates for sale.

Thor, through its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary Molyhil Mining Pty Ltd, owns 100% of the Molyhil Project, which comprises two EL's 22349 and 24392, totalling 829km2 in area, and includes three granted Mining Leases 23825, 24429 and 25712. The combined Mining Leases cover an area of 247ha. 

The Molyhil project has a proposed mine life of 5.7 years from a mining reserve of 2.12 million tonnes at 0.21% MoS2 and 0.47% WO3, this reserve contains 10.4 million pounds of MoS2 and 1.05 million mtu's of WO3.

MOLYHIL DEVELOPMENT

Finance 

Development of the project and in particular financing has been the main focus for the period. The Thor management team has met with many potential financiers and partners with a view to getting the project into operation. The discussions have been very positive to date, however the mood is cautious in the current financial climate.

Development 

The capital reduction programme and investigation into the reduction of operating costs is ongoing.

The magnetite samples have been tested by the Australian Coal Industry Research Laboratories to assess the suitability as a dense media for use in coal washing. The results have shown that the minus 75 micron material is of superior quality for use as a dense media in coal washing and will thus attract the highest selling price from the coal industry.

The minus 250 micron, plus 75 micron size fraction is still being investigated for its market suitability and the samples produced to date have all the attributes required for the steel producing industry. 

MOLYHIL EXPLORATION

Drilling commenced in January 2009 to investigate various induced polarisation anomalies 150 metres north of the existing pit. The objective of the program is to determine any possible additions to the known Molyhil resource.

OTHER PROJECTS

No work was completed this quarter at the Harts Range, Curtis Pound and Hale River Projects.

CORPORATE

Change of Address

The Australian registered office address and contact details are now as follows:

Level 1 

26 Greenhill Road

Wayville

SA 5034    

TEL: [phone]        FAX: [phone]

The Perth operational office details are:

571A Canning Highway

Alfred Cove

WA 6154    

TEL: [phone]        FAX:[phone]

JORC Compliance

The information in this report that relates to exploration results, mineral resources or ore reserves is based on information compiled by John Young, who is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. John Young is a director of Thor Mining PLC. John Young 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'. John Young consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Enquiries:

Mick Billing	+ 61 (0) 414 741 007	Thor Mining PLC	Executive Chairman
Damian Delaney	[phone]	Thor Mining PLC	Chief Financial Officer
John Simpson	020 7489 4500	Blomfield Corporate Finance Ltd	Nominated Adviser

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.

 

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