Business
Upgraded Ore Reserve For Molyhil Tungsten Mine
Upgraded Ore Reserve For Molyhil Tungsten Mine.
About this update from Thor Energy Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 5489N Thor Mining PLC 29 July 2014 \n\n \n29 July 2014\n \n \nTHOR MINING PLC\n \nUPGRADED ORE RESERVE DELIVERS LONGER 6 YEAR LIFE FOR MOLYHIL TUNGSTEN MINE \n \nAn updated Ore Reserve Statement of 3.0 million tonnes @ 0.31% WO₃ (tungsten tri-oxide) and 0.12% Mo (molybdenum) has been announced by Thor Mining Plc (\"Thor\") (AIM, ASX: THR) for its wholly-owned proposed Molyhil tungsten mine in Australia's Northern Territory (\"Molyhil\").\nThe revised reserve is likely to support a six year mine life at Molyhil, a two year extension from the previous study as announced on 30 May 2012.\nThis new reserve, with improvements largely attributable to the benefits of adopting ore sorting technology, has boosted mineable reserves of contained tungsten in WO₃ by 33.3% to 9,200 tonnes, and contained molybdenum by 63.6% to 3,600 tonnes. \nHighlights\n· Reserve statement of 3.0 million tonnes @ 0.31% WO₃ and 0.12% Mo.\n· Ore sorting increases grade of material processed by 15% to 0.35% WO₃and 0.14% Mo.\n· Post ore sort tungsten equivalent grade of 0.46% WO₃ using a 15% upgrade.\n· Very high grade near-surface tungsten provides opportunity for early payback of project capital.\n \n \nNext steps\n· Update capital and operating cost estimates\n· Completion of upgraded financial feasibility study\n \n \nMr Mick Billing, Executive Chairman of Thor Mining: \n\"This is a major step forward for the Molyhil project. The Open Cut Ore Reserve Statement provides for significant additional production from Molyhil, whilst the process improvements demonstrate that production costs will be very low, particularly in the initial couple of years. Indeed, the tungsten grade of the mineralisation, in the top 40 metres of the resource, before molybdenum credits, is 0.53% WO3, substantially above the project's average grade, suggesting very low operating costs in the first two years of operation, and subsequent early capital payback. \n \nThe next step is to update the bankable feasibility study for the project, including a review of capital and operating costs. This is an...