Quarterly Report September 20

RNS Number : 5364B

Thor Mining PLC

29 October 2009

 

THOR MINING PLC

SEPTEMBER 2009 QUARTERLY REPORT

Dated: 29 October 2009

Thor Mining PLC ("the Company" or "Thor"), AIM, ASX: "THR" the specialist metals company focused on advancing tungsten-molybdenum projects in the Northern Territory of Australia, releases its activities report for the September quarter.

MOLYHIL TUNGSTEN-MOLYBDENUM PROJECT ("MOLYHIL")

• The Investigation of alternatives to reduce capital and operating costs for the project is continuing.

• Molybdenum prices have decreased during the quarter, and the strength of the Australian dollar against the US dollar, renders the development of the Molyhil project uneconomic in the current economic climate.

• The price of Molybdenum Roasted Concentrates climbed to US$18.5/lb on tight European supply and strong Chinese demand, early in the quarter, but has seen a steady decline to US$13.0/lb towards the final weeks of the period. The selling price of Tungsten APT has increased and tightened to between US$190/mtu and US$200/mtu during the quarter. Demand for the commodities has increased over the period, with worldwide stockpiles all but exhausted. Steel production has increased slightly in Europe and the demand for raw materials in China has shown no sign slowing. This increase in demand has not been reflected in the selling price of Molybdenum Concentrates to date with the market aiming for stability when Molybdenum Concentrates will be traded on the London Metals Exchange in February of 2010.

• Confirmation was received during the period of the transfer of ML23825 to Molyhil Mining Pty Ltd.

EXPLORATION PROJECTS

• Reductions were completed and approved by the NT DPIFM for the Harts Range group of tenements, Bundey River EL25378, Hale River EL24809, Plenty Highway EL24810 and Curtis Pound EL to meet statutory requirements for these tenements. The core prospects have been retained whilst significantly reducing the annual rental commitment.

• The Molyhil resource model has been re-optimised by a group of independent geological consultants, taking into account the revised cost model and revised commodity prices. The resource estimate has been marginally upgraded as follows.

Classification	Resource   (t)	MoS2 (%)	WO3 (%)	Fe2O3 (%)
Measured	540,000	0.24	0.33	29.4
Indicated	2,300,000	0.18	0.38	27.9
Inferred	900,000	0.20	0.15	27.0
Total	3,750,000	0.19	0.32	28.0

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 25721. 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 cost reductions and financing continues to be the main focus. The Thor management team continues to meet with many potential financiers and partners with a view to getting the project into operation. The discussions continue to be positive; however the mood is still very cautious in the current financial climate.

OTHER PROJECTS

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

CORPORATE AND FINANCE

Capital Issues

During the quarter 45 million shares were issued by way of placement to London based sophisticated investors raising GBP450,000. The new shares were admitted to trading on AIM on Tuesday 14 July 2009.

Cash Position

The quarter closed with an A$0.7 million cash reserves.

JORC COMPLIANCE

The geological information in this report which relates to Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is based upon information compiled by Mr. J.J.G. Doepel, B.Sc (Hons), Grad Dip For Sc, Dip Teach, Principal Geologist of Continental Resource Management Pty Ltd.  Mr. Doepel is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient expertise and experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and to the type of deposit under consideration 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". Mr. Doepel consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear

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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