Thor Mining hebt ab!

Independent geological consultant, Continental Resource Management Pty Ltd (“CRM”) has completed an updated estimation of the resources at the Molyhil Project in accordance with 2004 JORC guidelines. The resource update was based on the results of a comprehensive underground trial mining and bulk sampling programme (including the sinking of three shafts into the ore body) completed during the second half of 2005 to evaluate the true head grade and mineralogical characteristics of the deposit.

The Molyhil Project deposit consists of two adjacent outcropping iron-rich skarn bodies that contain scheelite and molybdenite mineralisation. The mineralisation is coarse-grained and its distribution is irregular. CRM used information form the recent bulk sampling programmes to update its December 2004 resource estimation.

The updated 2006 global uncut mineral resource is presented below:



UNCUT


Tonnes
WO3 %
MoS2 %
Combined %

Measured
370,000
0.52
0.32
0.85

Indicated
1,750,000
0.52
0.26
0.77

Inferred
250,000
0.7
0.2
0.9

TOTAL
2,380,000
0.54
0.26
0.80



Note: Totals may differ from sum of individual items due to rounding.



The resource with a lower block cut of 0.10% Mo-equivalent is estimated as set out in the table below. (Mo-equivalent is Mo% plus 0.25W%):



0.10% LOWER BLOCK CUT


Tonnes
WO3 %
MoS2 %
Combined %

Measured
340,000
0.57
0.35
0.92

Indicated
1,200,000
0.70
0.34
1.04

Inferred
150,000
1.1
0.3
1.4

TOTAL
1,730,000
0.70
0.34
1.04



Note: Totals may differ from sum of individual items due to rounding.



This resource has only been estimated to a depth of 150m (RL 250m). The measured resource is estimated to a depth of 45m (RL 355m).

The Molyhil Project previously had an indicated resource of 1,530,000 tonnes at 0.32% WO3 and 0.19% MoS2 (combined grade 0.52%) and an inferred resource of 500,000 tonnes at 0.25% WO3 and 0.15% MoS2 (combined grade 0.4%).

The 2005 underground exploration programme included the sinking of three shafts and cross cuts at the base of each shaft to extract bulk samples from the ore body. The samples from all cross-cuts were assayed at Australian Laboratory Services in Perth. In addition, surface bulk sampling data from three costeans were utilised.

Resource Methodology

The resources were estimated by geo-statistical interpolation using the inverse distance squared method. Block sizes were 5m x 5m x 5m for the southern body and 15m x 5m x 5m for the Yacht Club body. The resources were estimated within wire frames, constructed to contain the significant bodies of iron-rich skarn. The bulk sampling programmes demonstrated that the previous drill samples underestimated the grade of the deposit. Consequently, the grades of those parts of the deposit that were estimated solely from drill analyses have been adjusted to account for this underestimation.

Preliminary mine designs and planning will now commence and the scoping study is due to be completed in the March 2006 quarter.

JORC Compliance

CRM consents to the inclusion of the information relating to the mineral resources in this announcement in the form and context in which it appears.

Enquiries:



John W Barr
+61 418 912 885
Thor Mining PLC
Executive Chairman






John Simpson
020 7512 0191
ARM Corporate Finance Ltd
Nominated Adviser






Abigail Singleton
020 7429 6666
Conduit PR
Public Relations




Updates on the Company’s activities are regularly posted on Thor’s website, which includes a facility to register to receive these updates by email.

This means that there is the potential for Thor to come into production at a decent position on both the molybdenum and tungsten sector cost curves. Barr prefers to wait for metallurgical results before conjecturing with any exactness on where operating costs might fall, but expects up-front capital requirements to amount to around A$20million.

Risks to the project include the metallurgical test work, though this is reduced to an extent by the fact that the deposit has been mined without metallurgical difficulty before. Another risk is that of delay as a result of the tight markets in equipment, services and labour, though this applies to most projects underway worldwide. Comfortingly, all the necessary permits for a mine at Molyhil are reported by Barr to be in place.

The biggest single risk is the price of molybdenum, which some expect to fall back further since hitting a peak of around US$30/lb. But given that it would be a fairly low cost producer, Thor perhaps need not be too worried. In addition, the Molyhil project, by virtue of its ore body composition, is weighted towards tungsten production, and tungsten is a metal for which a stronger price prognosis can be made than for molybdenum, which may have been a bit too hot for a bit too long. Barr imparts,though, that the price of either metal could fall substantially before the viability of the Molyhil project would be jeopardised.

Thor also has a further molybdenum-tungsten project and a pure tungsten project to its name. The former, Thring Creek, is located only 24kms from Molyhil, and though much earlier stage than Molyhil, if Thring Creek were eventually proved suitable for mining, attractive synergies could be facilitated. Drilling on Thring Creek is slated for April, and will focus on a large anomaly identified during an aeromagnetic survey conducted last year that is reportedly uncannily close to matching the magnetic signature of Molyhil.

More distant, at 325kms, is the Hatches Creek project, a historic producer of tungsten and one that Thor hopes is ripe for revival. No appraisal of the potential for renewed mining has been carried out on site for many years, but the company intends to begin drilling in March or April, and Barr believes that the results could be “spectacular’.

So, what to watch out for from here? If the metallurgical test results for Molyhil are sufficiently positive when they are announced in March,  Thor could get a full feasibility study underway on the project quite soon. This might well get the shares on the move, as would promising exploration results from the Thring Creek or Hatches Creek projects.

 
Companies featured in this Story
Thor Mining Plc (AIM-THR)


Dies alles besagt, dass es eigentlich sehr gut steht um Thor Mining und die nächsten 2-3 Monate ne Menge an News anstehen, die diese Aktie in den Himmel heben können. Es werden somit folgende Daten im März und April erwartet :

Thring Creek  Bohranfang April

Hatches Creek Bohranfang März oder April
Wo geglaubt wird, dass die Bohrergebnisse "spektakulär" ausfallen könnten !

Und zum guten Schluß die Machbarkeitsstudie bezüglich Abbau von Tungsten, Molybdenum,
die Ende März erwartet wird.

Der Kurs ist in letzter Zeit wieder abgesackt und bietet meines Erachtens ein sehr gutes Einstiegspotenzial, da dieser Abschlag nur darauf zurückzuführen ist, dass Leute mit Verlust raus sind und das Geld nicht solange liegen lassen wollen.

Also ich rechne fest damit, dass der wahre Wert dieser Aktie spätestens nach oben genannten Bekanntgaben erkannt wird und die Aktie nicht mehr unter 0,10€ zu haben ist,
übrigens 0,30€ war die Empfehlung eines Research Unternehmens, sage und schreibe 500%
mehr.
Die Gelegenheit ist also da, ganz am Anfang dabei zu sein !

mit freundlicher Empfehlung
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