The directors of Thor Mining Plc (“Thor”) (AIM, ASX: THR, OTCQB: THORF) are pleased to announce the commencement of a drilling program at the Company’s 100% owned Kelly’s Prospect within the Ragged Range Project, located in Eastern Pilbara, Western Australia.
- Project highlights:
2,000m reverse circulation (“RC”) drilling program has commenced at the Kelly’s Prospect, Ragged Range - Drilling is designed to follow up on rock chip samples returning up to 15.5 g/t Au and 535g/t Ag, and a historic drill intercept of 1.5m @ 22.97g/t Au (DDHK2 drilled in 19691).
- Drilling is targeting the sheared contact of the Euro Basalts and Boobina Porphyry that forms a silicified ridge extending over 1 km (Figure 1 and 2).
- The drilling program also includes 1-3 drillholes beneath high-grade historic copper workings – Copper Hill (produced 15,730 t of cupreous ore with a grade of 13% Cu, mined 1952-1963)2 and Kelly’s (produced 609t of cupreous ore with a grade of 19% Cu, mined 1955-1970)3.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2554C_1-2022-10-9.pdf
Photo Plate 1: Drilling at Kelly ‘ s Ridge Prospect, Ragged Range
Nicole Galloway Warland, Managing Director of Thor Mining, commented:
“We are very pleased to report that a 2,000m drilling program is now underway at the Kelly’s Prospect at Ragged Range. Historically, exploration activities across the area have only focused on copper, despite encouraging gold indications, such as a 1.5m @ 22.97g/t Au intercept drilled in 1969.
“This program intends to improve our understanding of the structural controls of the Prospect and follow up on our rock chip sampling, which took place earlier in 2022 and returned up to 15.5 g/t Au and 535g/t Ag.
“Meanwhile, in the US, the maiden 2,000m drilling program at priority targets across the Wedding Bell and Radium Mountain Projects is progressing well.
“We look forward to providing further updates in due course.”
The Ragged Range Project, located in the prospective Eastern Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, is 100% owned by Thor Mining (covering E46/1190, E46/1262, E46/1355, E46/1340 and E46/1393 – Figure 2 and Figure 3).
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2554C_1-2022-10-9.pdf
Figure 1: Location Plan
Drilling Program
Exploration in the Kelly’s area has historically focused on copper, with only minor attention placed on the gold potential, despite the presence of +2g/t gold in historical rock chips and a high-grade drill intersection of 1.5m @ 22.97g/t Au (DDHK2 drilled in 1969). Rock chip sampling on Kelly’s Ridge by Thor in 2022 returned up to 15.5g/t gold, as well as anomalous Au-Ag-As-Bi and minor Cu and Pb (THR: ASX/AIM 25 July 2022) (Figure 2 and 3, and Photo 2).
The program is designed to test three areas: Kelly’s Ridge, Kelly’s NE and below the Kelly’s Copper workings.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2554C_1-2022-10-9.pdf
Kelly’s Ridge
The Kelly’s Ridge extends over 1km and is characterised by silicification and strong sericite alteration (Figure 2 and 3, Photo 2),
One historic diamond hole tested the Kelly’s Ridge (DDHK2), intersecting 1.5m @ 22.97g/t gold, as well as a combination of either quartz veining, silicified zones, disseminated sulphide and veinlets over an approximate 27m zone down hole at the basalt-porphyry contact. No other gold assays in the hole are available besides this intersection, so it is unknown if there is any wider zone of lower grade gold mineralisation.
Drilling is designed to test the high-grade rock chips returning up to 15g/t Au and 535g/t Ag along the 1 km ridge and to test this historic drill interception at depth and along strike (figure 3).
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2554C_1-2022-10-9.pdf
Photo 2: Kelly’s Ridge, showing high-grade gold intercepts along contact between Euro Basalt and Boobina Porphyry
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2554C_1-2022-10-9.pdf
Figure 3: Kelly’s Ridge cross-section, showing proposed drill collars,historic drill intercept and high-grade rock chip
Kelly’s NE
Two short lines will test the Kelly’s NE area with drilling below historic rocks chips that returned >0.2 g/t Au (Figure 2). Drilling is assuming steep easterly (noted in mapping, northerly strike visible in airphoto) to steep sub-vertical (similar to Kelly’s Ridge) dips.
Kelly’s Copper Workings
Two historical copper mines were worked on either end of the Boobina Porphyry, Copper Hills (producing 15,730 t of cupreous ore with a grade of 13% Cu, mined 1952-1963) and Kelly’s (producing: 609t of cupreous ore with a grade of 19% Cu, mined 1955-1970).
The north north-west trending mineralisation at Kelly’s Copper Mine extending over 600 metres, is developed in quartz veins along shears cutting the Boobina Porphyry. The oxidised zone contains malachite, azurite, cuprite, chrysocolla, with further bornite and chalcocite in the supergene zone, with the primary zone containing pyrite, and chalcopyrite in quartz, sericite and chlorite.
Drilling in this area is designed to test beneath these historic high-grade workings to provide a representative sample of mineralisation, rock types, and alteration. The holes will extend through the volcanic porphyries into the basalt testing the contact at depth for primary sulphide copper mineralisation.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/2554C_1-2022-10-9.pdf
Photo 3: Kelly’s historic copper workings
DC Drilling Pty Ltd has been contracted to complete the RC drilling program. The 2,000, program is anticipated to take approximately two weeks, with samples being freighted to Bureau Veritas Laboratory in Adelaide, SA, for analysis.
References:
1. DDHk2, drilled by Hawkstone 1969; Open File Annual Report
2. Copper Hill: produced 15,730 t of cupreous ore with a grade of 13% Cu, mined 1952-1963
https://www.mindat.org/loc-122950.html
3. Kelly’s: produced 609t of cupreous ore with a grade of 19% Cu, mined 1955-1970. https://www.mindat.org/loc-122951.html
For further information, please contact:
Thor Mining PLC
Nicole Galloway Warland, Managing Director
Ray Ridge, CFO / Company Secretary
Tel: +61 (8) 7324 1935
Tel: +61 (8) 7324 1935
