Drilling Commences
No summary for this filing – the full text is below.
Select text to share a quote on X · sign in to keep highlights & notes in your THR notes
The directors of Thor Energy Plc ("Thor") (AIM, ASX: THR, OTCQB: THORF) are pleased to announce drilling has commenced at Alford West Copper ISR Project, in South Australia. This copper project is held by EnviroCopper Limited ("ECL") (Figure 1), in which Thor holds 26.3% interest.
Highlights:
§ The drilling program comprises three water bores for hydrogeological baseline assessment, and subsequent push-pull and tracer testing as part of the first phase of In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") Site Environmental Lixiviant Trials.
§ This program is the first step in assessing whether the Alford West orebodies are amenable for sustainable recovery of copper using ISR. This is a low impact, small footprint form of metal recovery that significantly reduces the surface impacts and allows rehabilitation of the land back to its original farming state.
§ The work at Alford West, follows on from Thor's successful drilling and copper recovery hydrometallurgical work at its adjacent Alford East Copper ISR Project (ASX/AIM: 11 December 2023).
§ If these ISR trials are successful, they will significantly increase the potential to extract economic copper via ISR along the Alford Copper Belt. This area of known copper oxide resources extends over 50kms along the contact between the Tickera Granite and the Wallaroo Metasediments (Figure 1).
§ The Alford West Copper ISR Project includes the Bruce, Larwood and Wombat deposits (Figure 1), with a Mineral Resource Estimate of 66.1Mt @ 0.17% Cu containing 114,000t of contained copper (ASX/AIM: 15 August 2019 (Table 1).
Photo 1: Drill Rig Alford West Project
Leon Faulkner, Managing Director of EnviroCopper, commented:
"This work on the Alford West Project further strengthens both EnviroCopper's strategy to develop ISR copper projects for the state of South Australia and its relationship with key partners including Alligator Energy."
Nicole Galloway Warland, Managing Director of Thor Energy, commented:
"Water Bore drilling has now commenced at ECL's Alford West Copper Project. The first step will assess whether the Alford West orebodies (Bruce Larwood and Wombat deposits) are likely to be amenable to sustainable recovery of copper using ISR. If the trials are successful, it will highlight the significant copper potential of the Alford Copper Belt (comprising Alford East and Alford West ISR Copper Projects), and its potential to be a future "green" copper-producing opportunity for South Australia.
"We look forward to updating the markets as the field activities progress."
Figure 1: Alford West Location Map showing the extent of the Alford Copper Belt (left), and Thor's Alford East Copper ISR Project.
Table 1: Alford West Mineral Resource Estimate - JORC 2012 (ASX/AIM: 15 August 2019)
ALFORD WEST MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE (15 AUG 2019)
| RESOURCE CLASSIFICATION | DEPOSIT | TONNES (MT) | CU (%) | CU (METAL T) | AU (g/t) | AU (OZ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferred | Wombat | 46.5 | 0.17 | 80,000 | ||
| Bruce | 11.8 | 0.19 | 22,000 | |||
| Larwood | 7.8 | 0.15 | 12,000 | 0.04 | 10,000 | |
| TOTAL | 66.1 | 0.17 | 114,000 |
Notes:
- Figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding.
- Cut-off grade used of 0.05% Cu
Table 2: Alford East Mineral Resource Estimate as of 22 January 2021-JORC 2012 (ASX/AIM: 27 January 2021)
ALFORD EAST MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE (22 JANUARY 2021)
| Domain | Tonnes (Mt) | Cu % | Au g/t | Contained Cu (t) | Contained Au (oz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE_1 | 24.6 | 0.12 | 0.021 | 30,000 | 16,000 |
| AE_2 | 6.8 | 0.13 | 0.004 | 9,000 | 1,000 |
| AE_3 | 34.9 | 0.09 | 0.022 | 33,000 | 25,000 |
| AE_4 | 8.0 | 0.11 | 0.016 | 8,000 | 4,000 |
| AE_5 | 11.0 | 0.22 | 0.030 | 24,000 | 11,000 |
| AE-8 (NP) | 31.3 | 0.19 | 0.008 | 61,000 | 8,000 |
| AE-7 (LW_E) | 7.7 | 0.14 | 0.025 | 10,000 | 6,000 |
| AE-6 (LW_W) | 1.3 | 0.13 | 0.011 | 2,000 | 500 |
| Total | 125.6 | 0.14 | 0.018 | 177,000 | 71,500 |
Notes:
- MRE reported on oxide material only, at a cut-off grade of 0.05% copper which is consistent with the assumed ISR method
- Thor Energy PLC has 80% interest in the Alford East Project
- All figures are rounded to reflect appropriate levels of confidence. Apparent differences may occur due to rounding.
The Board of Thor Energy Plc has approved this announcement and authorised its release.
About EnviroCopper Ltd
ECL was established in 2017 and is a copper ISR specialist focussed on its Kapunda and Alford West ISR projects in South Australia (Figure 1).
ECL's experienced team is leading the way in copper ISR technology development, collaborating with leading universities and research institutes into successful outcomes of mining economics, environmental mitigations and community acceptance of this extension to existing ISR technology.
Thor Energy is the largest shareholder with 26.3% equity interest, with Alligator Energy in January 2024 investing A$0.9M for a 7.8% interest (ASX/AIM: THR 24 January 2024).
For further information on EnviroCopper and to see an overview of its projects, please visit the Company's website at https://www.envirocopper.com.au/
Notes
4 https://thorenergyplc.com/investor-updates/molyhil-project-mineral-resource-estimate-updated/
5https://thorenergyplc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/20221124-8M-Farm-in-Funding-Agreement.pdf
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.