Quarterly Report
Thor Mining PLC
31 October 2007
THOR MINING PLC
Quarterly Report - September 2007
Dated: 31st October 2007
MOLYHIL TUNGSTEN-MOLYBDENUM PROJECT ('Molyhil')
Development Highlights
• Updated resource completed with 55% increase in overall tonnage to 3.73
million tonnes;
• New Mining reserve completed with 98% increase in overall tonnage to 2.15
million tonnes;
• Proposed processing rate increased to 400,000 tonnes per annum, life of mine
to extend to over 5 years;
• Engineering review completed indicating a 400,000tpa operation can be
developed for AUS$63.3M, including additional owner operator costs, this has
resulted in substantially lower annual operating costs;
• Landmark Native Title Mining Agreement signed with Eastern Arrernte
indigenous people. Agreement clears the way for granting of Molyhil Mining
Leases;
• No objections received during the Public Environment Review period,
the Mining Management Plan is prepared and will be submitted shortly;
• Thor has advanced negotiations for an off-take agreement with interested
parties. We anticipate an agreement in principal will be reached during the
December quarter; and
• Financing alternatives are now being considered with the assistance of
several parties.
Exploration Highlights
• Further exploration targets identified from recently completed IP
geophysical survey. Molyhil deposit itself remains open at depth with
potential to increase resources with deeper drilling; and
• New targets have been defined and it is planned that drilling of these
would commence in 2008.
URANIUM PROJECTS
• Reconnaissance air core drilling completed at Plenty Highway Project with
assay results expected in mid-to-late November 2007;
• Encouraging rock chip results received from ground surveys at the Harts Range
Project including elevated uranium values; and
• Follow up work at Harts Range now underway.
MOLYHIL TUNGSTEN - MOLYBDENUM PROJECT
MOLYHIL DEVELOPMENT
Updated Resource
Thor's consultants completed the resource update during the quarter; it resulted
in a 55% increase in overall tonnage to 3.73 million tonnes at 0.51% combined
tungsten (WO3) and molybdenum (MoS2). The revised resource now comprises:
• Measured Resource of 530,000 tonnes at 0.42% WO3 and 0.27% MoS2, a 43%
tonnage increase over the previous resource;
• Indicated Resource of 2.4 million tonnes at 0.39% WO3 and 0.17% MoS2,
a 37% increase over the previous resource; and
• Inferred Resource of 800,000 tonnes at 0.15% WO3 and 0.1% MoS2, more
than three times higher than the previous resource.
The significant increase in the overall resource tonnage is a direct result of
the two recent drilling campaigns, which have improved the geological model and
increased confidence in the continuity of the mineralisation.
Mining Reserve
The new Proven and Probable reserve is based on only the Measured and Indicated
categories of the revised resource. Approximately 73% of these Measured and
Indicated resource tonnages converted to reserve status, which now totals:
Tonnes Grade WO3 Grade MoS2
Proven 456,000 0.47% 0.30%
Probable 1,690,000 0.49% 0.20 %
Total 2.15 million tonnes 0.49% 0.22%
This represents a tonnage increase of 98%.
Open pit designs have now been completed in two stages. The initial pit has been
designed for the first 3.7 years of operation to maximise cash flow with the
subsequent pit design continuing for a further 1.9 years at current commodity
prices.
The mining reserve contains a total of 4.8 million pounds of molybdenum metal
and 700,000 mtu's of tungsten which will be produced over the expected 5.6 year
life of the open pit design.
Engineering Review
Perth-based consulting engineering group, GR Engineering Pty Ltd ('GRE'), has
completed a review of the capital cost estimate for Molyhil. This included the
previously announced proposed upgrade in the processing capacity of the plant to
400,000 tonnes per annum.
The estimated total capital cost for the Molyhil process plant, including an
allowance for contingency, EPCM and owner operator costs is AUS$63.3 million.
This includes a provision of AUS$13.7 million for owner operator plant and
equipment, previously this plant and equipment was included in operating costs
as lease or hire costs.
This additional capital reduces forecast processing and mining operating costs
from AUS$94 per tonne to AUS$78 per tonne, a significant saving over the
projected 5.6 year mine life.
Off-take Negotiations
During the last two quarters, Thor has focused on a strategy of securing an
off-take agreement for Molyhil. A short list of parties has been waiting for the
final reserve estimate in order to finalise negotiations. This is now underway
with meeting being held in Perth and Melbourne in the last two weeks. Thor
expects to be able complete off-take negotiations during the December quarter.
Financing
Now that the final reserve has been determined the company is moving forward to
finance the capital expenditure to develop Molyhil. Financing alternatives are
now being considered with several parties.
Native Title
Thor has signed a landmark Native Title Mining Agreement this will enable the
Molyhil mining leases to be granted. The Agreement was signed with
representatives of the community of the Eastern Arrernte people of the Central
Northern Territory, one of the largest Indigenous groups in Northern Australia.
The signing follows the completion of an Indigenous Land Use Agreement in 2002
for exploration in the area. Traditional Owners and the Central Land Council met
with Thor representatives on site in March 2007 to finalise mine infra structure
approval.
The signing ceremony, which was held at Molyhil site north-east of Alice
Springs, was attended by community members as well as the Chairman of the
Central Land Council ('CLC'), Mr Lindsay Bookie, and the Chairman and CEO of
Thor Mining, Mr John W Barr and Mr John Young, together with several senior
company executives.
Environmental and Notice of Intent ('NOI')
Keith Lindbeck and Associates ('KLA') have completed a draft of the Mining
Management Plan ('MMP') as recommended by the Public Environmental Review
('PER') document.
MOLYHIL EXPLORATION
An extensive Induced Polarisation Geophysical Survey ('IP') was recently
completed at Molyhil. This survey has successfully identified the Molyhil skarn
mineralisation, confirming that IP is an effective exploration tool for
targeting similar skarns in and around the Molyhil deposit.
The completion of this IP survey represents the first stage in increasing the
regional exploration effort at Molyhil to target additional deposits.
Chargeable responses have been identified south, along strike beyond current
drilling and 500m to the west of the Molyhil mineralisation. A single traverse
completed 150m north of the existing pit identified a chargeable response 50m
below natural surface where there is no outcropping skarn identified in this
area and is clearly a priority target.
The Molyhil deposit itself remains open at depth with potential to increase
resources with deeper drilling. A plan to drill these deeper targets will be
finalised once results from the underground conceptual study are completed.
Drilling of these and regional targets will commence in 2008.
URANIUM EXPLORATION
Hale River Uranium Project
Results from air core drilling at the Hale River Uranium Project in the Northern
Territory were received during the quarter, with a total of 28 holes completed
for 1,829 metres of drilling. Geological logging of the drill holes has
confirmed the presence of downward coarsening sandy sequences and carbonaceous
horizons within the targeted channels. Results from the upper carbonaceous
horizon have returned values up to 100ppm U confirming the presence of weak
redox style mineralisation. Existing anomalies need further drill testing and
work to date has confirmed the presence of suitable 'trap sites' for roll front
style Uranium mineralization.
Plenty Highway Project
A program of reconnaissance air core drilling was completed at the Plenty
Highway Uranium Project in the Northern Territory A total of 16 air core holes
(07PHAC001-016) were drilled for 1,582 m. Drilling completed wide spaced
reconnaissance air core holes on two north-south lines and one east-west
traverse along a fence line track.
A number of the holes did not reach bedrock due to the intersection of deep clay
horizons which exceeded the capabilities of the drill rig. At this stage, the
Company has not sourced another rig to complete more drilling.
The HoistEM data appears to have correctly defined the extent and approximate
depth of the palaeo-channels in the area. Drilling has identified a thin sandy
layer covering up to 10m of calcrete while below this thick horizons of
calcareous clay have been identified with thin units of gypsum and calcrete
being common. Anomalous scintillometer readings have been restricted to units of
quartz sand below the clays.
The most prospective area to date appears to be between holes 07PHAC010 and 012,
along the fence line traverse, where quartz sands up to 8m thick have been
identified returning twice the background radioactivity in the area. More
drilling is required in the area.
Assay results from this drilling will be available in November.
Harts Range Project
The Harts Range project area lies on the eastern margin of the Entia Dome. The
Entia Gneiss forms the core of the Entia Dome, which is located on the western
part of the Exploration Licence area.
In late July, a mapping and rock chip survey was carried out on tenements
EL24736 and EL24734, two of the tenements within the Harts Range Uranium Project
which is located approximately 200km east-northeast of Alice Springs in the
Arunta Province of the Northern Territory. The project includes five other
tenements, EL24827, EL24735, EL24765 and A24766.
The main objective of the sampling program was to follow up on previous rock
chips taken earlier this year from identified areas around the Mt Mary, Daicos
and Haddock prospects in order to identify drilling targets in this difficult
terrain. A number of sub-parallel pegmatites had previously been surveyed at the
Haddock Creek and Daicos prospects, with a maximum count of 19,000 cps returned.
Four samples were taken, with one 1.5kg sample returning a very high uranium
result of 8.87% U. At Mt Mary, two rock chips taken from 'hot spots' in this
area returned elevated uranium values ranging from 107 to 246ppm.
Rock chip sampling and mapping was also completed on the Daicos, Haddock, Mount
Mary (SNAF & Indiana) and Starlight prospects, with a total of 39 rock chip
samples collected.
Daicos Prospect
Reconnaissance rock chip samples taken on pegmatite veins mapped at the Daicos
prospect area returned a best assay of 19.37% U from highly radioactive samples
with visible uraninite and columbite. Other highly anomalous elements
associated with these samples included assays up to 28.32% Nb and 25.52% Ta.
Highly anomalous assays for Dy, Er, Gd, Hf, Ho, Nd, Tb, Y and Zr from these
samples were also noted. The combined average of these 9 associated rare earth
elements is 3.49%.
The samples were taken along a number of contact zones associated with an
exposed pegmatite vein system covering an area of 300m by 400m. Drilling is
being planned to determine the thickness and strike extent of the individual
zones. A petrological assessment of the pegmatites is also warranted.
Haddock Prospect
The Haddock prospect covers the base of a large hill over a fold structure
containing highly radioactive epidosite altered country rock and pegmatite.
Previous trenching in the 1990's also returned highly anomalous U from trenches
across the base of the hill. Recent sampling in this area returned a best
uranium assay of 1,658ppm from sample HK006. Additional trenching and
reconnaissance drilling is required to determine the full extent of
mineralisation in the area.
Of the 17 rock chip sample assays taken at the Haddock prospect to date, only
three exceed 0.1% uranium. The prospect should be evaluated in terms of a large
tonnage/low grade uranium resource. Haddock type anomalies have been recognised
at points along a stratigraphic arc extending north. Approximately 12 km of
prospective strike length provides potential host extensions or repetitions of
epidosite-pegmatoid layers. A detailed airborne radiometric survey should
delineate the broad corridor in which these extensions of epidosite-pegmatoid
may occur.
Indiana Prospect
The newly identified Indiana prospect is associated with multiple pegmatite
intrusions in sheared country rock in a valley at the base of Mount Mary.
Highly anomalous scintillometer readings were returned from numerous samples in
the area. Further mapping, rock chip sampling, trenching and drilling will be
based on these initial rock chip assay results.
The full extent of the Indiana prospect is still not known; a best assay of
673ppm uranium was returned from initial sampling in the area.
Other projects
During the quarter exploration was held up at Hatches Creek, as the Central Land
Council was unable to organise a final clearance meeting with traditional
owners.
No work was completed this quarter at the Hatches Creek, Curtis Pound and Bundey
River Projects.
CORPORATE
Capital Raising and Listing on ASX
During July a placement of 6,800,000 shares at 11 pence per share was completed
on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange ('AIM'). These shares have been
placed with sophisticated investors based in the UK for trading on AIM.
The funds raised, approximating AUS$1.7m after costs, will be used to supplement
short term working capital requirements and to provide additional finance for
the development of Molyhil.
The AGM will be held in London on the 20th of November at 11am, at the Wyndham
Hotel Chelsea Harbour.
TENEMENTS
Two Hatches Creek tenements, EL22912 and EL23463 were granted on the 24th of
July 2007.
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:
John Young + 61 (0) 419 954 020 Thor Mining PLC Chief Executive Officer
John Simpson 020 7512 0191 ARM Corporate Finance Ltd Nominated Adviser
Leesa Peters 020 7429 6600 Conduit PR Limited Public Relations
or
Jos Simson 020 7429 6603
Nicholas Read + 61 (0) 8 9388 1474 Read Corporate Public Relations
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