Dundas Acquisition Update

RNS Number : 5543K

Thor Mining PLC

22 April 2010

 

THOR MINING PLC

UPDATE - DUNDAS GOLD PROJECT (WA)

Dated: 22 April 2010

The Directors of Thor Mining PLC ("Thor" or the "Company") (AIM, ASX: THR) the exploration company focussed on gold and base metal projects and advancing tungsten-molybdenum projects in the Northern Territory of Australia advise that the Company and its newly incorporated wholly owned subsidiary, TM Gold Pty Ltd, have executed a sale and purchase agreement for the staged acquisition of three tenements covering 340 square kilometres in the Western Australian Goldfields approximately 100 kilometres southeast of Norseman.  The tenement package comprises exploration licences E63/872, E63/1101 and E63/1102.

Key terms of the Dundas acquisition are as follows:

·      Initial acquisition of 51% Interest in each of the tenements for AUD$100,000.

·      Option Stage 1 - Option to acquire an additional 9% interest in each of the tenements exercisable by Thor by the issue to the vendors of 45 million fully paid ordinary shares in Thor within 5 months of the date of the acquisition agreement, unless parties agree otherwise;

·      Option Stage 2 - An option to acquire an additional 20% interest in the tenements exercisable by Thor on or before 30 September 2012 by the allotment to the vendors of fully paid ordinary shares in Thor equal in value to AUD$2 million provided Option Stage 1 has been exercised and Thor has incurred a minimum spend of AUD$1million on exploration on the tenements; and

·      Option Stage 3 - Option to acquire the final 20% interest in each of the tenements exercisable by Thor at the earlier of: (i) 60 days following an additional spend of AUD$1million on exploration on the tenements, or: (ii) the 30 September 2014 by the allotment to the vendors of fully paid ordinary shares in Thor equal in value to AUD$2 million provided Option Stage 1 and Option Stage 2 has been exercised.

The number of Thor fully paid ordinary shares to be issued if the second and third options are exercised is to be calculated on the 30 day Volume Weighted Average Price ("VWAP") of Thor's CDIs on the ASX prior to the date of issue. The Thor ordinary shares will be issued to CHESS Depositary Nominees Pty Ltd which will issue equivalent CDIs to the vendors and agents.

Thor is required to fund exploration and to keep tenements in good standing while it holds options to increase its equity.

If Thor, for any reason, elects not to exercise its option to increase its equity in the tenements, then Thor will cease sole funding the exploration and maintenance of the tenements and the parties will form a joint venture. The vendors may then sell their interests with Thor holding right of first refusal.  In the event that the vendors do not sell their interest and are diluted to 5% joint venture interest collectively, they can elect to withdraw from the joint venture in exchange for a 1.5% net smelter return royalty.

The exercise of an option by Thor will be subject to Thor obtaining shareholder and other approvals.

DUNDAS EXPLORATION PROGRAM

The first phase of exploration at Dundas, a soil sampling program covering that part of the project not covered by the previous sampling in the 1990s, has commenced.  A maiden drilling program by Thor to test existing anomalies and anomalies expected to be identified, is scheduled for later in 2010.

The Dundas project area is located within the general southerly strike extension of the most gold-rich part of the Yilgarn province, the Wiluna-Kalgoorlie-Norseman greenstone belt. The Directors believe this may impart an enhanced prospectivity to the section of the Albany-Fraser Province containing the project area.

In addition, the tenements are located in a part of the Albany-Fraser Province where the south-westerly grain of the Province is displaced south-eastwards by about 50km. The overprint of a south-easterly structure appears to mimic elements of the Tropicana geology and apparently creates opportunities for dilation of the rock sequence - a structural element generally favourable for mineralisation.

Competent Persons Statement

The information in this report that relates to exploration results, mineral resources or ore reserves is based on information compiled by Trevor Ireland, who is a Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Ireland is a non-executive director of the Company and his services are engaged on a contractual basis. Trevor Ireland 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'. Trevor Ireland 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
Laurie Ackroyd	[phone]	Thor Mining PLC	CFO/Company Secretary
John Simpson	+ 44 (0)20 7776 6550	Daniel Stewart & Co. plc	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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