Thor Mining updates Molyhil reserve estimate

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Thor Mining has released an updated reserve ore estimate for the company’s wholly-owned Molyhil project in the Northern Territory.

 

Molyhil project location. Source: Company announcement

The reserve ore estimate now stands at 1.64 million tonnes at 0.42 per cent tungsten and 0.13 per cent molybdenum.

Thor said the tungsten grade in the reserve is 50 per cent above resource estimate grade, which it considers to provide the opportunity for early payback of project capital.

The company indicated the new reserve provides a four year initial mine life at Molyhil with substantial upside potential to extend project life as only 35 per cent of resource tonnage is included in this initial reserve.

Runge is currently preparing a detailed mining plan using the new reserve statement, and incorporating minor elements of the inferred resource, to provide Thor with a monthly mining schedule for the currently estimated life of the proposed operation.

This will then be incorporated into the financial model for the project to estimate economic returns.

The company anticipates this process will be completed during June 2012.

“A development decision for Molyhil is progressively becoming closer,” Thor Mining executive chairman Mick Billing said in the company’s announcement to the Austyralian Securities Exchange.

“This updated reserve is very robust, and we have significant upside beyond this new ore reserve, both in the resource and from exciting exploration potential.

“This statement of ore reserves underpins a profitable mining plan for an initial period of approximately four years.”