Quarterly Report - March 2009

RNS Number : 6157R

Thor Mining PLC

01 May 2009

 



THOR MINING PLC

QUARTERLY REPORT - MARCH 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 March 2009.

HIGHLIGHTS

MOLYHIL TUNGSTEN-MOLYBDENUM DEVELOPMENT PROJECT ('MOLIHIL')

• 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 selling price of Molybdenum Roasted Concentrates has reduced slightly during the last quarter and showing some signs of support at US$8/lb. The selling price of Tungsten APT has reduced slightly to between US$210/mtu and US$225/mtu. Demand for the commodities has increased slightly over the period, with worldwide stockpiles nearly exhausted. Demand is showing signs of improvement for the remainder of the year, as the steel industry shows increased production levels.

• The results of the metallurgical test work have demonstrated that the magnetite is of superior quality for use in coal washing. Several potential customers have independently analysed the marketing samples and found the magnetite to be of sufficient quality to be considered a premium product.

EXPLORATION PROJECTS

• An RC drilling campaign at Molyhil was conducted in January 2009.

CORPORATE

• In January 2009 Thor Mining raised £220,000 (A$487,000) by way of a placing of 22 million ordinary shares to UK based sophisticated investors.

MOLYHIL TUNGSTEN - MOLYBDENUM PROJECT

Molyhil 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 Molyhil, which comprises two EL's 22349 and 24392, totalling 829km2 in area, and includes three granted Mining Leases 23825, 24429 and 25721. The combined Mining Leases cover an area of 247ha.

Molyhil 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 continues to meet with many potential financiers and partners with a view to getting the project into operation. The discussions have been positive to date, however the mood is still very cautious in the current financial climate.

Development 

The capital reduction programme and investigation into the reduction of operating costs is ongoing and is expected to be completed in the next quarter with a revised feasibility study being published.

The magnetite marketing samples have now been tested by several potential customers. As shown by the Australian Coal Institute Research Laboratories the magnetite is of exemplary quality throughout all the size ranges. Grinding tests have also been completed to demonstrate that the plus 75 micron minus 250 micron material can be successfully ground to minus 75 microns and maintain the characteristics required for coal washing. This greatly increases the amount of saleable product from the operations.

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.

EXPLORATION PROJECTS

MOLYHIL EXPLORATION

• An RC drilling campaign at Molyhil was conducted in January 2009 with the following objectives:

• Test an IP (induced polarisation) anomaly outside of the proposed pit boundary which had the potential to substantially increase the size of the Molyhil resource.
  

• Infill drilling within the proposed pit to tighten up the resource calculation.

• Drilling the IP anomaly failed to intersect any significant mineralisation, however assays from the drilling programme within the proposed pit boundaries have been positive. All holes drilled within the proposed pit intersected significant widths of MoS2 and WO3 mineralisation.  

• These results will allow the geological model to be revisited to investigate the potential increase in resource figures. It is expected that a revised resource calculation will be published during May 2009.

OTHER PROJECTS

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

CASH POSITION

The quarter closed with A$1.2 million cash reserves.

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 / Charlotte Stranner	020 7776 6550	Daniel Stewart & Company 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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