Segun Lawson, President and CEO of Thor Explorations (TSX.V:THX – US:THXPF), joins us to review the Q4 2022 operational and financial results from the producing Segilola mine in Nigeria. For the 4th quarter gold production was 26,331 at an average grade of 3.51 grammes per tonne gold. For the Company’s first full calendar year of production in 2022 was 98,006 oz, which was at the top end of the FY 2022 guidance range of 90,000 to 100,000 oz. Senior debt was also reduced to $28.4 million as of December 31, 2022.
We discussed the exploration plans for fast-track drilling programs on near-mine and regional targets that were finalized with surface work, sampling, and mapping and will commence this month. In addition, an underground drilling program commenced for testing mineralization below the current pit, to continue expanding resources. Also notable in Nigeria was the acquisition of additional exploration tenure, expanding their Nigeria portfolio to 1,542 square kilometers (“km2“)
We also outlined the work and recent higher-grade and wide-intercept drill results at the Douta development Project in Senegal, where the Company is continuing to expand the resources at the Makosa ore body, which now has grown to a 7km strike length, and also incorporates the Makosa Tail area. 26,000 meters were drilled at Douta this year, doing step-out drilling and infill drilling at the Makosa deposit, as well as expansion drilling around 3 key new mineralized satellite discoveries at the Mansa, Maka, and Sambara targets. There are still drill assays pending for the 3 satellite deposits that will be reporting early in the new year.
The next key Company milestones will be to get all these new drill results released and then put into an expanded resource estimate update in the first half of 2023, and then after that to wrap some economics around the Douta project in a Preliminary Economic Assessment for the market to evaluate. The goal is to expand the resources well beyond the previously reported 730,000 ounce Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the Makosa Deposit, and to now show the economic viability of the new satellite deposits at Mansa, Maka, and Sambara potentially feeding into a central processing plant in a hub and spoke strategy.
If you have any questions for Segun regarding the ongoing work at Thor Explorations, then please email us at either fleck@kereport.com or shad@kereport.com.
*In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Thor Explorations.
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