Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Thor Explorations (TSXV: THX) announced Thursday it has released an initial NI 43-101 standard mineral resource estimate for the Makosa deposit, located in the southern portion of the Douta gold project in Senegal.
This resource estimate, which stood at 15.3 million tonnes grading 1.5 g/t Au for 730,000 oz of gold, is supported by a total of 35,728 metres of drilling. The resource is classified as inferred and is constrained within optimized pit shells.
The Makosa resource encompasses the Makosa, Makosa North and Makosa Tail zones, which all remain open along strike and down dip, and are expected to grow with ongoing drilling.
“The Makosa maiden resource estimate is the company’s first major milestone at the Douta project,” Segun Lawson, Thor’s CEO, said in a press release.
“The resource is the culmination of the first round of mostly wide-spaced exploration drilling conducted over a strike length of over 7 km. This provides for a solid growth platform for Thor following the greenfield discoveries of Makosa and Makosa Tail in 2018 and 2020 respectively,” he added.
The company is now focused on expanding the resource along the prospective corridor that runs along the full 30 km length of its exploration licence. Priority will be given to extensional drilling at Makosa North, where the mineralization remains open-ended towards the northeast.
Additionally, Thor revealed that exploration drilling at the Mansa prospect, located 5 km along strike from Makosa, resulted in encouraging drilling intersections, including 4m grading 3.11 g/t Au, 5m grading 1.75 g/t Au and 2m grading 10.65 g/t Au.
Shares of Thor Explorations rose 4.7% by 12:10 p.m. in Toronto, giving the West Africa-focused gold junior a market capitalization of C$203.3 million.
