Circular for the Acquisition of Spring Hill

RNS Number : 5513F

Thor Mining PLC

28 April 2011

 

THOR MINING PLC

Circular for the Acquisition of the Spring Hill Project

Dated: 28 April 2011

The Directors of Thor Mining PLC ("Thor" or the "Company") (AIM, ASX: THR, THRO), the exploration company focussed on gold and base metal projects and advancing tungsten-molybdenum projects in the Northern Territory of Australia today released a Circular to Shareholders. The Circular sets out the terms and conditions for the staged acquisition from a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Desert Resources Limited of up to an 80% interest in the 274,000oz Spring Hill Gold Project in the Northern Territory and has attached to it a Notice of a General Meeting of Shareholders to be held at 9am BST on Wednesday, 18 May 2011, at which Shareholder approval to, among other things, the transaction is being sought.

The Chairman of Thor, Mr Mick Billing, commented - "This acquisition is a significant step forward for Thor and its shareholders. In addition to the potential for near/medium term production from the Company's Molyhil tungsten and molybdenum project, we now have the opportunity for gold production at Spring Hill from a resource which the directors believe has significant growth upside"

For further details on the acquisition of Spring Hill a copy of the Circular can be accessed from the Company website, or via the attached link:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5513F_1-2011-4-27.pdf

Background to and reasons for the Acquisition

Since the acquisition by the Company of a 60% interest in the Dundas Gold Project in 2010, the Directors have actively pursued opportunities to acquire additional gold projects, with a focus on more mature prospects with potential for exploration upside.  The objective has been to add balance to the portfolio while increasing the potential for exploration success.  This has culminated with the proposal to acquire the Spring Hill Project.

Information on the Spring Hill Project and the Company's proposed exploration and evaluation program for the Spring Hill Project for the 2011 dry season (March to November) is set out in the Circular.

Related Party

Mr Michael Ashton and Mr Norman Gardner, Non-executive Directors of the Company, are both directors of the Vendor and the Vendor's parent company, Western Desert Resources Limited. Under the AIM Rules Michael Ashton and Norman Gardner are considered related parties (being any person who is a director of an AIM company or a Substantial Shareholder) as they are both directors of Thor and WDR, the Vendor. Consequently the transaction will require the Company's Nominated Adviser to provide an opinion that the terms of the Spring Hill Transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as Security Holders are concerned.

Western Desert Resources Limited is, as at 11 April 2011 (being the last date practicable prior to the publication of this document), a 9.34% Shareholder in the Company and as such not a Substantial Shareholder under the AIM Rules (an individual, corporation, partnership, association, trust or other entity that holds any legal or beneficial interest directly or indirectly in 10% or more of any class of Thor's Securities).

Western Desert Resources Limited is not a related party for the purposes of the AIM Rules as Michael Ashton and Norman Gardner do not between them hold 30% or more of the voting rights of WDR. Further Western Desert Resources Limited is not a related party for the purposes of the Australian Corporations Act or the ASX Listing Rules.

Substantial transaction

A Substantial transaction under the AIM Rules is a transaction which exceeds 10% in any of the AIM class tests.

The Independent Expert's Report calculates, on a pro forma basis, including the placings on 18 January 2011 and 16 March 2011 Thor's net assets to be approximately A$17,342,000. The Independent Expert's assessment of the total consideration for the Spring Hill Transaction is in a range of A$3,170,000 to A$3,350,000 in return for a 51% interest in Spring Hill and in a range of A$3,750,000 to A$3,950,000 in return for an 80% interest in Spring Hill.

The Spring Hill Transaction is considered a substantial transaction, under the class tests in Schedule Three of the AIM Rules as such, at a minimum; the Company must make the disclosures as detailed in Schedule Four of the AIM Rules.

Recommendation

As the Transaction with the Vendor is considered a related party transaction under the AIM Rules, its Directors (with the exception of Mr Norman Gardner and Mr Michael Ashton who are involved with the Spring Hill Transaction as a related party) consider, having consulted with Daniel Stewart, the Company's nominated adviser, that the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as its Security Holders are concerned.

The Directors (other than Mr Norman Gardner and Mr Michael Ashton in respect of Resolutions 1 to 4) respectively unanimously recommend that you vote in favour of the Resolutions as set out in the Notice of General Meeting attached to the Circular, as they intend so to do in respect of their own beneficial holdings (which amount in aggregate to 6,812,582 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 1.35 per cent of the Existing Shares).

Enquiries:

Mick Billing	[phone]	Thor Mining PLC	Executive Chairman
Allan Burchard	[phone]	Thor Mining PLC	CFO/Company Secretary
John Simpson	[phone]	Daniel Stewart & Co. plc	Nominated Adviser
Nick Emerson/ Renato Rufus	[phone]	Simple Investments	Broker

 

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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