Latest Share Price
  • THX.V $

  • THX.L

DELAY 30 MINUTES
  • News

  • News

  • News

Thor Announces Results of Exploration Drilling in Burkina Faso and Recommencement of Exploration Fieldwork

November 6, 2013

Thor Explorations Ltd. ("Thor" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of its initial exploration drilling programme at the Company's Central Houndé Project (the "Project") in south-west Burkina Faso, West Africa.

In summary:
  1. Thor has completed first pass drilling programmes on five targets at the Company's Ouéré East target area.
  2. A total of 16 RC (reverse circulation) drillholes were completed totalling 1,800m.
  3. Gold mineralisation has been confirmed on each of the targets drilled, with the best results including 2m @ 6.42 g/t Au and 3m @ 1.49 g/t Au from hole UERC009 and 3m @ 1.27 g/t Au from hole UERC008 with each target remaining open to further mineralisation along strike and at depth.
  4. Following the end of the rainy season in West Africa, work has restarted at Ouéré East to investigate additional identified targets along the main structure and at other selected areas across the Central Houndé Project.
  5. Further to this, field work has also restarted at the Company's Douta Project in Senegal where a number of new targets have been identified following recent reinterpretation of the existing exploration data.


Thor has completed a preliminary exploration drilling campaign on five targets within the Ouéré East target area (5 km2 ), which is located in the north of Thor's Central Houndé Project (474 km2 ) (see map 1: The Central Houndé Project at the following link - http://www.thorexpl.com/i/maps/Central-Hounde-Project-Map1.pdf).

Ouéré East is the first of a number of regional target areas which have been prioritised for follow-up work following early stage exploration (see map 2, target areas in the Central Houndé Project at the following link - http://www.thorexpl.com/i/maps/Central-Hounde-Project-Map2.pdf). Ouéré East was prioritised due to a combination of a favourable geological setting and the presence of significant surface gold mineralisation. Gold mineralisation appears to be located on an important regional shear zone in a range of orientations within Birimian metamorphic units and adjacent to tonalite plutons.

Gold mineralisation was identified through the mapping of artisanal mining sites and the results of a selective rock grab sampling programme during Stage 1 exploration at the Ouéré East Area. Stage 1 also succeeded in identifying new gold mineralisation targets through the results of a soil geochemistry programme, enabling the generation of drilling targets (Refer to News Release dated June 24th, 2013).

The June 2013 initial exploration drilling programme consisted of 1,800m of RC drilling which tested 5 targets at Ouéré East with 16 drill holes averaging 115m drill depth. Gold mineralisation was identified in each of the targets with 8 of the drill holes returning gold mineralisation over 0.5 g/t Au. The results of these drill holes are reported in the appendix at the end of this release. Map 3 illustrates the location of the drill holes at the following link - http://www.thorexpl.com/i/maps/Ouere-East-Target-Map3.pdf.

The results of the drilling programme have allowed Thor to plan subsequent work at Ouéré East to identify and prioritise further drill targets.

Following the end of the rainy season, Thor has now recommenced exploration at both the Central Houndé Project and the Douta Project in Senegal (577 km2 ).

Thor's CEO, Segun Lawson commented:
"We are very encouraged by the results of our initial exploration drilling programme which reinforces our view that the Central Houndé Project is a large and prospective area of gold mineralisation. The targets tested at Ouéré East are all open along strike and at depth and new fieldwork in the area will include the generation of new drill targets in the area. We are also optimistic that further fieldwork in both projects will demonstrate the potential of the project areas to host significant gold mineralisation".

About the Houndé Greenstone Belt, south-west Burkina Faso

The Houndé belt is host to the Semafo Mana Mine which has been in production since 2009 and a number of other recent gold discoveries. The recent exploration discoveries by Semafo, Roxgold and Endeavour have average grades equal to or over 2.5 g/t Au and have been subject to resource upgrades in early 2013. A summary of these new discoveries is tabulated below.

CompanyProjectIndicated resourcesInferred Resources
Tonnage
Mt
Au Grade
g/t Au
Metal Content Moz AuTonnage
Mt
Au Grade
g/t Au
Metal Content
Moz Au
SemafoSiou Sector 16.74.61.00
Roxgold55 Zone, Yaramoko 21.315.70.680.88.90.22
EndeavourHoundé 315.82.51.288.02.60.66
Table 1: Competitor resources in the Houndé Greenstone belt, Burkina Faso. 1 Semafo News Release dated February 21st, 2013, 2 Roxgold Inc. News Release March 4th, 2013, 3 Endeavour Mining Corporation News Release dated January 22nd, 2013. Note that Roxgold has applied a 3.0 g/t Au cut-off grade, and Semafo and Endeavour have applied a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off grade to the resources stated above.

Cautionary Note: Minerals resources disclosed herein relate to nearby properties owned by other companies, and the data presented have been extracted from those respective companies' press releases. A qualified person has been unable to verify the information regarding any resources within adjacent properties, and such resources are not necessarily indicative of potential quantities or grades of mineralization on the Company's own properties.


Thor's Central Houndé Project is located approximately 100km along strike from the recent discoveries mentioned above, within the same greenstone belt. Thor commenced work on the Central Houndé Project in 2012 with regional exploration and reconnaissance trips into specific areas of the permit group. This work identified the Ouéré East zone as the priority area for follow-up exploration. The Ouéré East zone is intersected by the regional north-north-east oriented structure running along the Houndé belt, and was found to include a number of artisanal workings over a 5 km by 1 km area. In late 2012, Thor initiated stage 1 of the exploration of Ouéré East that consisted of selective rock chip sampling and assaying and mapping of the artisanal workings and regional soil sampling over the area. Stage 1 aimed to understand the local geology and structure of the area and to confirm gold mineralisation at the artisanal workings. This was achieved as reported in a previous press release (dated June 24th, 2013).

Stage 2 of the exploration plan of Ouéré East commenced with the initial exploration drilling as reported in this press release, and further work in this stage is now underway with the aim of further developing the geological understanding of the area before further drilling is undertaken.

About the RC Drilling campaign

Drilling results reported here are for downhole intersections and are unlikely to represent the true width of mineralisation. Targets have been tested with too few drillholes to sufficiently understand the nature and orientation of mineralisation on this limited data.

Drill holes were sited to test the depth extensions of artisanal mineralisation and as such were drilled in a number of orientations. The dip of drill holes varied from -50° to -60° depending on the specific target.

A total of 1,835m were drilled on 16 targets, with a maximum hole depth of 160m, and an average of 115m.

Samples consisted of approximately 2.5kg of representative material riffle split from 1m drilled intervals. Samples were dispatched to ALS laboratories in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso where samples were prepared by fine crushing and pulverising. Samples were analysed by fire assay of a 50g charge with Atomic Absorption finish with a lower detection limit of 0.001 g/t Au.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) procedures were in place for the drilling programme and included the use of certified reference materials, field duplicates and blank samples. The QAQC programme identified no irregularities in drilling programme. The QAQC results have been reviewed by Dr. Field who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed by Dr. Matthew Field, Pr.Sci.Nat, who is a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 and an employee of AMEC who have been engaged by Thor Explorations Ltd. to provide advice on exploration data collection and resource estimation. Dr. Field visited the Central Houndé Project during the drilling project in June 2013. His knowledge of Thor's property is limited to information supplied by Thor for review plus public domain information relating to the adjacent properties referred to in this press release.

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor holds a 70% interest in the Douta Gold Project located in southeastern Senegal. The Douta Gold Project lies within the Kéniéba Inlier which hosts significant gold resources and has attracted major international mining companies. Thor also holds an 85% interest in the Bongui and Legue gold permits located in Houndé greenstone belt, and a 100% interest in the Ouéré gold permit in south west Burkina Faso. The three Burkina Faso permits comprise the Central Houndé Project. Thor trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".

THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.

Per: "Segun Lawson"
President & CEO

For further information please contact:

Tel: 778-373-0102
Fax: 604-434-1487
Email:

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release


Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain "forward looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur", or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions, estimates, intentions, analysis and opinions of the Company made at the date that such statements are made. Forward looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Any forward-looking information contained herein is presented for the purposes of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Appendix A: Drilling Results
TargetHole IDAzimuthDipFrom (m)To (m)interval (m) and grade (g/t Au)
SamasanoUERC001270-55NSV
UERC002270-6020211m @ 1.10
UERC003310-5528302m @ 1.78
UERC004310-60NSV
UERC005310-55NSV
UERC00990-5032342m @ 6.42
including32331m @ 11.60
and70733m @ 1.49
and74762m @ 1.06
Kourou LiUERC00690-60NSV
UERC00730311m @ 0.52
and270-5534362m @ 1.17
UERC016270-50NSV
Fitini LiUERC008270-5021243m @ 1.27
LeybaUERC010270-50NSV
UERC01190-50NSV
UERC01490-5550511m @ 0.68
and52531m @ 0.52
and75794m @ 0.72
and1031063m @ 0.52
UERC015130-5064651m @ 1.82
and1111121m @ 0.54
SaboUERC012360-50NSV
UERC013310-5022231m @ 0.96
Table 1: Drill results over 0.5 g/t Au are reported. Composites are reported with a nominal cut off of 0.3 g/t Au (as internal dilution) where such intervals occur immediately adjacent to or within the mineralised composites. Intervals are unlikely to represent true width. Refer to text for further information. NSV = No Significant Value (i.e. all results less than 0.5 g/t Au).
    icon
    Presentation
    icon
    Financials
    icon
    Modern Slavery Statement
    Thor Exploration Ltd.

    Register to receive news via email from Thor Exploration Ltd.

    * Required Fields