8 July 2013
THOR MINING PLC
ORE SORTING PROOF OF CONCEPT - SPRING HILL PROJECT NT
The Directors of Thor Mining PLC ("Thor") (AIM, ASX: THR) are pleased to announce positive results from initial ore sorting test work on near surface oxide ore from the Spring Hill gold project south of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory.
Spring Hill gold mineralisation is vein hosted and the positive results, using X-ray scanning, demonstrate "proof of concept" that Spring Hill gold bearing material can be identified and segregated. Further testing on a larger sample is scheduled in South Africa which will allow Thor to better predict commercial outcomes.
Ore sorting is a process of upgrading ore prior to the costly fine crushing and grinding in the ore processing circuit. The coarse material, generally of a size fraction between 20mm & 150mm, is scanned and segregated according to criteria developed by test work. After sorting, mineralised material progresses through the rest of the circuit, while non-mineralised material is discarded as waste. This pre-concentrating process has the potential to reduce downstream processing costs of fine crushing, grinding, and cyanidation. The process is not suitable for all styles of mineralisation, however it is used in some circumstances to upgrade low grade gold stockpiles in South Africa. It has now been demonstrated as a potential enhancement for Spring Hill.
Pending confirmation by subsequent test work (likely to take up to 3 months), internal modelling, suggest the following range of outcomes for Spring Hill near surface oxide mineralisation, using a cost of A$7.00/tonne to crush & sort,
Proportion of sort discarded as waste¹ |
Cost saving per ounce A$ |
20% |
NIL |
35% |
$100 |
50% |
$200 |
1. The above range should not be classed as estimates and should be used for example purposes only. |
Thor holds a 51% equity interest in the Spring Hill project, and is exercising rights to increase that interest to 80% from Western Desert Resources Limited (ASX "WDR").
Commenting, Mr Mick Billing, Executive Chairman of Thor Mining, said: "This is a potentially exciting enhancement for the Spring Hill project. Ore sorting is also commercially used in tungsten processing and a similar scale test on Molyhil material is also in process in South Africa. We eagerly await the outcome of that testwork, as it also has potential to reduce both capital and operating costs for Molyhil."
Enquiries:
Mick Billing |
+61 (8) 7324 1935 |
Thor Mining PLC |
Executive Chairman |
Allan Burchard |
+61 (8) 7324 1935 |
Thor Mining PLC |
CFO/Company Secretary |
Colin Aaronson/ David Hignell |
+44 (0) 207 383 5100 |
Grant Thornton Corporate Finance |
Nominated Adviser |
Nick Emerson/ Renato Rufus |
+44 (0) 1483 413500 |
Simple Investments |
Broker |
Alex Walters |
+44 (0) 7771 713608 +44 (0) 207 839 9260 |
Cadogan PR |
Financial PR |
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.
